Birthday Disaster
by Bookfreak426
Summary: Today two things happen. One was it was Naruto's Birthday. He went thought the town, hoping to spend the day with his friends. What he didn't expect was to get banished for 5 years, because a certain Uchiha Sasuke wouldn't return to Konaha. ReadXReveiw!
1. The Banishment

Today two things happened. First one was that today was Narutos Birthday. He was turning 14. He was in his apartment, eating breakfast thinking of what he should do today. He thought he should go to the Training grounds and train with Kakashi and Sakura.

Sasuke left for Orochimaru for power, so he no longer was apart of their squad. Painful memories were coming back to him.

--Flashback—

Naruto was standing on the water, letting Sasuke beat him to death. Naruto was thinking to himself 'He really wants to kill me' As he was thinking, Sasuke had formed and Chidori and without thinking, shoved his hand thought Narutos chest.

--End Flashback—

Naruto put a hand over where Sasukes Chidori had almost killed him. If it weren't for the Kyuubi, he _would_ be dead. He decided to forget about that and planned his day. After training with Kakashi and Sakura, he would go to Ichiraku's Ramen stand and have 12 bowls. Then he would hang out with his friends. Neji and Choji were still healing from the injuries that that had while trying to retrieve Sasuke. He would hang out with everyone for the rest of the day.

Naruto got up from the table and dressed in his usual orange jumper suit. He put on the necklace that Lady Tsunade had given him, and headed for the door. What he didn't expect were two ANBU members to block his path.

"Uzumaki Naruto, you are to report to the council right away . They wish to speak with you."

"Uh, okay!" Naruto said and walked towards the council.

Once he arrived, the council told him to take a seat. Lady Tsunade was sitting next to him with a very concerned look on her face. He was about to ask her what was wrong but he was cut off by the head councilmen.

"Uzumaki Naruto, you are here before the council because you are being charged with the failure of bringing back Uchiha Sasuke. We have now lost the entire clan of the sacred Uchihas because you couldn't bring him back. You are also being charged with not being able to control the Kyuubi and we feel that you are endangering the Village. And furthermore, you are being charged with everyone who came back injured from that mission."

That's when the second thing happened.

"On behalf of the entire council and Village, I hereby banish you from Konaha for five years. You have two hours to pack up and leave the village. After a few minutes of silence, Naruto got up and left the room.

Naruto couldn't believe it. He couldn't say anything. Why would the council banish him for coming back with everyone injured? I mean, everyone had to go one on one just to _get_ to Sasuke.

He walked with his hands in his pockets, head down. Heading towards his apartment, the unwanted attention he was getting was clearer. He was hearing all the whispers about him. Memories of his childhood flew into his head, being scolded and pointed at. He shook his head to get rid of them

Naruto finally reached his apartment. Out of his closet he pulled out his ninja backpack. He filled his bag half way with his black outfit and more of his orange suits. He also packed the ninja headband that Iruka-sensei had given him so many years ago, and the old picture of Team 7.

The tears falling from Naruto eyes were visible, staining his shirt. Once he made sure he hadn't forgotten anything, he left the apartment and walked out the door.

The villagers watched as Naruto walked past them. One of the villagers said," So he finally got banished? Good, now we actually have a chance for our villager to grow, knowing that _he_ wont kill anybody" "Yeah, I hear ya. Good riddance!" the villagers laughed.

Naruto heard the entire conversation and ran._ Why does this village see me as a monster? I want to be Uzumaku Naruto, not the kyuubi!_ He thought. When he was far enough away, he started walking to the Konaha Gates. _Happy Birthday Naruto,_ he told him self glumly.

"Hey Naruto, are you going to train with us?" Sakuras voice had said. He noticed the bag on his shoulders and asked," Where are you going? A mission?"

Gai and Asuma's team were coming towards them, wondering what the yelling was about. Apparently both teams had gotten back from a long mission, because each one of them looked really tired.

"Hey Naruto, Happy Birthday!" Lee said, very excited.

"Yes, Happy Birthday. Let your youthful spirit take way on a great journey outside of the village!" Gai sensei had said.

"Where are you going?" Shikamaru asked.

"Im going to, um…..uh I don't know, just on a….uh, adventure. Yeah, adventure" Naruto said. He didn't think some one would catch him leaving the village so he didn't think of an excuse.

"But we were going to thought a party fo-" Ino's voice was cut off buy a running Tsunade. She looked like she was in a hurry. When she got there, she asked

"Can I speak with you Naruto?"

"No" This response had caused all eyes to look at him. Naruto and Tsunade were like family, so why was Naruto being to mean to her. They didn't know of anything that had happened. They listened in to find out what was going on.

"Please Naruto? For just one minute?" Tsunade pleaded.

"No, why didn't you say anything this morning, Tsunade?" This defiantly surprised them. Naruto never called the Hokage by only her first name. It was either 'Tsunade-obaa-chan' or just plain 'Obaa-chan'.

"I tried, even Jiraya tried, but both of us were overruled. I'm so sorry; I tried everything, even getting a petition"

"I didn't see Jiraya there. What time is it?" Naruto asked, making sure he had enough time before ANBU came after him, to finish the conversation.

"You have about 5 mins", Tsunade said, with a new sadness in her voice. Even Shikamaru was confused now. He asked,

"Okay, what's going on and why does Naruto only have 5 more minutes. He can leave whenever he want if he's just going on an adventure, as he called it."

"I have to go before someone comes after me. See you later, Tsunade-obaa-chan" Naruto said and turned around. He walked towards the gate and wished he could tell people where he was going, but for the moment, he wanted nothing to do with Konaha, or people, except his friends and teachers. He turned around once more, and waved good-bye.

"Happy Birthday, Naruto. Good luck" Tsunade said.

"Yeah, Happy." And with that, he turned around and walked, not knowing where he was going. He never looked back, knowing that he couldn't comeback for five years.

They watched as Naruto left the village. They were still confused.

"This is too troublesome" Shikamaru said.

Sakura walked up to her sensei and asked. "Tsunade-sama, why did Naruto only have 5 minutes to leave? Couldn't he leave at anytime?"

"This village is terrible. They don't deserve someone as great as Naruto. If they want to keep me as Hokage, they better treat him better when he gets back." Tsunade said with venom in her voice.

"I don't understand" Sakura said. A few seconds of silence went by as black clouds came over Konaha. Tsunade spoke.

" Naruto was banished from Konaha for 5 years, all because he couldn't bring back this villages precious Uchiha Sasuke. Also the council blamed him for all the injuries that were had while on the mission, and the Kyuubi power that lies inside of him." She felt tears streaming down her face, so she wiped them and turned to everyone else.

"WHAT?!? Everyone screamed. Shikamaru continued

"None of that was his fault! Everyone had to fight on a one-on-one battle, just so we could catch up to the traitor. And because Sasuke almost _**killed**_ Naruto, _Naruto_ is the one to blame? If it weren't for the Kyuubi, he'd be dead!!"

While Shikamaru was talking, Sakura fell on her knees and cried to her hands. Choji and Ino were still shocked. Naruto and they hadn't been the best of friends, but even so, they didn't want Naruto gone. Neji was the most shocked of all. Neji had come to respect Naruto as one of his best friends and looked up to him. Ten-Ten and Lee went to comfort Sakura, who was still crying. Asuma and Gai were just watching all the drama all around them.

"So what do we do now? Just sit around and wait for Naruto to come back in 5 years, or do we confront the council?" Shikamaru asked.

"We can only wait, and hope Naruto comes back, with the same attitude as he had." Tsunade said, and everyone went to their own house to clear out the mess in their heads.

-----------------------------------------------

Naruto grabbed the map out of his backpack and headed towards the sand village. It would take him three days to get there. He was hoping that Gaara, Temari and Kankuro would let him stay with them for a while, until he found a more permanent place to stay. Gaara and Naruto had been good friends for a long time. They were both considered monsters in their Village. While they were young, they were scorned and hated. However, Naruto found people who actually cared for him while Gaara had nothing.

They sky had turned black, so Naruto had to find shelter. It was raining now, and a few meters away from him, he found a cave kind of thing. He went in and started a fire. He found some of the Instant Ramen in his bag and prepared it. When it was done he ate it while thinking '_This doesn't even compared to Ichirukas Ramen stand._' When he was done he told him self,

"Happy Birthday, Naruto" and fell asleep, crying.

Okay, so this is the first chapter. Now I am typing up the second. Don't forget to review! Lol

Crystal


	2. A place to Stay

**Two days later**

Naruto found himself, standing at the Gate entry of the Sand Village. The sand was blowing in his face, as he walked though the streets of the village. He headed for the Kazekage's office. Before anything, he used a transformation jutsu so incase Konaha had told the sand that he was banished. The blonde, orange wearing boy, was now a brown-haired, black and red wearing villager from the Hidden Rock. He wore his black outfit from the funeral of the third Hokage. He went to the Kazekage's office and asked for three strong and feared ninja to help protect him, with his stay here. The sand villagers were not on friendly terms with rock.

The Kazekage agreed, for a payment of 174 dollars. Naruto forgot you had to play for missions. Unwillingly, he pulled out his frog wallet and paid the Kazekage. He told Naruto to wait outside, as he sent two guards to go get Gaara and his siblings. Naruto didn't hear who they were getting, so he was still hoping that he would be able to speak with Gaara. He walked around for a few minutes. He walked back to the Kazekage's office and knocked.

"Come in." He said and Naruto walked in. Thankfully, is _was_ Gaara's family. Trying to act like a normal villager, he asked:

"Are you serious? These punks?" He repeated the words Tazuna, from the hidden mist, had said to his team, on their first mission. "Well, okay lets go." And walked out of the room, with the sand siblings following him.

"May we ask what we are guarding you from…um?" Temari asked, not knowing his name.

"My names not important, at the moment. Do you have a place we could talk more privately?" Naruto asked, in his new improved form.

"Certainly, we can go to our house." And Temari led the way. Gaara looked at Naruto suspiciously, but followed anyways. Once they arrived at the house, Naruto sat down, while Temari asked:

"Would you like some tea?"

"Yes please" Naruto said, as Temari walked into the kitchen, while Kankuro went to check on him puppets. Gaara, on the other hand, looked at the brown-haired man. He was about three inches taller than him. He smirked.

"That a nice disguise." Gaara said calmly.

"Thank y—What?"

"I said that's a nice disguise, Naruto."

"How did you know?" Naruto said as he 'poofed' back to his normal self.

"I sensed your chakra and recognized it. Next time, try to mask it better."

"Will do. Well, I'm guessing you want to know why I'm here." Naruto asked

"That would be nice" So Naruto explained his entire story from not being able to retrieve Sasuke, which he already knew, to the part of his banishment, then to the whole disguise thing.

Temari and Kankuro had heard Naruto's voice, and entered the room. They were both surprised. Gaara explained the story to them, and now they understood.

"So I was wondering if I could stay here for a while, just until I find another place to stay." Naruto said

"Of course you can, you can stay here from the entire time, if you'd like?"

"If you can stand me for 5 years than sure." Gaara and Kankuro nodded in approval

"Thanks guys, I'll owe you for life. I'll stay as my disguise so people don't recognize me. I don't want Sand to let Leaf know I'm here. I'll train with you guys, if that's okay?"

"That cool." Kankuro said. Naruto sighed in relief.

"Come, I'll show you your room" Kankuro said. Naruto followed him to the end of the hallway to his room. Temari and Gaara stood in silence. "Your doing a good thing, Gaara" Temari said.

"What are….friends for?" He said. Temari smiled at his brother.

**Two years later**

Sakura and Kakashi were training at Training grounds 7. Sakura was throwing punched and kicks at Kakashi. Kakashi was blocking most of them, but got kicked a bunch of times. She threw a kunai at him, which was blocked by him throwing his. Both clanked to the ground.

"O-Okay, I think were done for today." Kakashi said, very tired.

"Okay," Sakura said. They both sat down and ate the lunch that Sakura packed. There was two sandwiches and rice. "So, three more years." Kakashi said.

"Yeah, I can't wait to see him all of the new jutsus you and Lady Tsunade have taught me."

"So you training with her is going well, I see." Kakashi said.

"Yes, with her I'm learning to become a med-nin and to be stronger. And with you, I'm learning taijutsu, ninjutsu and genjutsu more often." Sakura said. Kakashi smiled at his student. '_She's grown, from a pathetic girl to a very strong one.'_ Kakashi thought. Suddenly Neji appeared.

"Hokage-sama wishes to speak with you two."

"Thanks." Kakashi said, and both of them disappeared. They appeared in front of Tsunades door and knocked. "Come in." They walked in to find a much stressed Tsunade.

"Oh good, its you two. In six months, you two and Shikamaru will go to the Sound Village, find Sasuke and bring him back. We have reliable sources that say that they should be very weak at that point. So you guys train heard, okay?"

"Y-Yes Tsunade-sensei." Sakura said and vanished.

"Well, that went well" Kakashi said and also disappeared.

'_Now you can prove yourself to everyone, Sakura._' Tsunade thought and went back to her paperwork.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Naruto was outside, training with Gaara, Temari and Kankuro. Gaara was practicing his sand jutsus, Kankuro was working with one of his puppets and Temari was teaching herself a new jutsu with her fan.

Jiraya had fount out Naruto was in the Sand Village, and came by to see how he was doing about two weeks ago. Naruto was remembering that day,

**In Konaha**

Jiraya was remembering the last time he met Naruto for the first time in two years.

Jirayas POV Flashback

Jiraya was now entering the Sand Village. He had some reliable resources tell him that they had seen Naruto heading this way. He went to the Kazekages office, asking to speak with Temari. The Kazekage agreed, and sent someone to go get her.

Naruto's POV Flashback

Naruto and Gaara were having a conversation when there was a knock at the door. Everyone looked at Naruto, who was quickly making hand sign. Naruto whispered the disguising technique. Suddenly Naruto turned into his disguise. Them name they would call him when in this body was Natrumaru. Receiving a nod from Naruto, Kankuro turned to the door and opened it.

"Temari, the Kazekage had asked for your presence."

"Well, okay. See you guys later." Temari left the house and followed the villager to the Kazekages office. Naruto released the jutsu, because it cost him a lot of chakra, and continued with his conversation. Kankuro joined in.

Jirayas POV Flashback

Jiraya was waiting for Temari in the Office. After a few minutes Temari walked in. Once she saw that Jiraya was standing there, she froze. Naruto told her that Jiraya was an old sensei.

"Hey Temari, could we go for a walk?" He asked.

"Y-Yeah, sure." She said and followed the Sannin. Out on the streets, they walked for a good five minutes, until Jiraya broke the silence.

"Have you seen Naruto? I heard he was heading this way"

"Um, no, I-I haven't" Temari said nervously. Jiraya took notice of the this, and was getting suspicious.

"Oh, well, I just wanted to he how he was doing and show him a new Jutsu I came up with for him. If you see him, tell him I was looking for him." Jiraya said, and turned to leave.

'_What should I do? Naruto, I know, would love to learn a new jutsu, before returning to Konaha._' She thought. "Jiraya-sama, would you like to come to my place for tea?" Jiraya turned around and accepted the offer.

Narutos POV Flashback

Kankuro was showing him all the moves that he could do with the puppets. Naruto was very fascinated with it. Kankuro moved him fingers in a certain way, which made the puppet move.

"So every different finger stance moves a differ-." He was cut off by two slow knocks. Naruto turned himself into Nartumaru. He masked his chakra level, just like Gaara reminded him to do when he first got there. Temari entered with a certain Legendary Sannin. Naruto gasped. Temari looked at him with a worried look.

"Hey Nartumaru, can I talk to you?" Temari asked. She walked towards a room with a door, so no one would hear. 'Nartuamaru' followed. When he entered, Temari shut the door.

"I'm sorry, he said he wanted to teach you a new technique, and I knew you wanted to learn some different ones. He said it was one just for you." Temari apologized and explained.

"Its okay, I'll talk to him." Naruto said with his low voice. They both exited the room.

"Yo, Ero-sennin?" Naruto said.

Jiraya turned around to the name Naruto had called him all the time. "Do I know you?" Jiraya said.

"You should, here let me give you a hint." Naruto unmasked his chakra. The level of chakra in the room skyrocketed. Jirayas eyes widened.

"Still don't recognize me? I'm hurt, Ero-sennin."

"Naruto? Is that you?" He asked. Naruto released the jutsu to reveal him-self, with a new outfit on. It was black and orange now.

"So what's this new jutsu you wanted to teach me?" Naruto smiled.

End of all Flashbacks.

Naruto was practicing the jutsu. Naruto yelled, "Kage Bunshin no jutsu!" and five Narutos appeared. The real Naruto moved away from his clones. Then he yelled. "Kage Bunshin Daibakuha!" Each of the five clones blew up. The jutsu was used to confuse the enemy and put them off guard.

Naruto also practiced two other ones, but he never got them ,mastered. He was only able to get one to work, but not so that he was really called mastered. He practiced until he was out of chakra. Temari and Kankuro had to drag him home.

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So I thought this would be a fun chapter to put up. I'll have the next one up in a few hours, or tomorrow morning.

Crystal

_**Glossary**_

Ero-sennin- Perverted hermit

Kage Bunshin no jutsu- Shadow Clone Technique

Kage Bunshin Daibakuha-Shadow Clone Explosion.

Hope that helped.


	3. Sparring

**6 Months Later**

Kakashi and Sakura were getting ready to leave. They each packed shuriken's, kunai's and much more. Both walked to their desks and studied the picture that was there. It was the old picture of team 7. '_Soon, we will be a team again_' they both thought and headed for the Konaha Gates.

Shikamaru was also getting ready. He packed all of his gear and got his Chuunin vest. He left for the Gate. While Sakura was on here way, she bumped into Kiba and Akamaru.

"Hey Sakura, going on a mission?" Kiba asked.

"Yeah, were going to go get Sakura" She winced as she said his name.

"Oh, well good luck, who else is going with you?"

"Shikamaru and Kakashi. I actually thought Tsunade would put more people on the platoon." She told Kiba.

"Well, okay. Bye and good luck!" Kiba ran away waving to her.

"Bye" She walked to the gate. When she got there, she was surprised to see Kakashi there first. Sakura stoop across from him, as Shikamaru came into view. "Well, you guys ready to go?" Kakashi asked. "Hai!" and they ran towards the Sound Village.

**One week L8R **

Naruto and Temari were sparring, while the two brothers watched the fight. Temari had swung her fan, making killer wind fly in Naruto's direction. Naruto couldn't counter the attack, and took the full blow. He had cuts on his arms and legs, with blood dripping out of each.

"You're done Uzumaki!" Temari yelled from across the field, to her friend.

"Heh, if you think that, then you don't know me at all. And to think I've been living with you for about two and a half years now." Naruto said. Temari looked at Naruto, who had just poofed away. '_Figures, it was a bunshin_' Temari thought. Naruto had appeared out of nowhere behind her, with a kunai to her throat. Temari sighed in defeat, while Gaara had gotten up and said, "My turn" Gaara and Naruto took their fighting stances.

"Naruto, you may be my best friend, but that doesn't mean I will go easy on you." Gaara said.

"I wouldn't want you to, now lets get this on!" Naruto disappeared. Gaara looked around the sand dunes, but couldn't find him. Before Gaara could think, Naruto jumped from the ground and landed a fist to Gaara's chin. Naruto didn't hit his hardest, because he didn't want to hurt him. But that was a mistake, seeing as Gaara quickly recovered from the blow, and made the sand go after Naruto. Naruto jumped out of the way, and yelled, "Kage bunshin no jutsu!" Three Narutos appeared. He hadn't tried his new jutsu on then yet. All Narutos charged at Gaara.

'_He knows my range, yet he comes straight towards me_' Gaara thought. Once the Narutos got up close enough to catch him off guard, just not to hurt him, the real one stayed back and yelled "Kage bunshin Daibakuha!" The two Narutos blew up which caused Gaara to fall backwards. Once he got up and wiped the blood from his mouth, Gaara said,

"You've become stronger"

"So have you" Naruto said. They continued to fight, but in the end, it was a draw. Now it was Kankuros turn.

"If I get poisoned by one of your puppets Kankuro, your going to get it good." Naruto said, smiling.

"Don't worry, I de-poisoned them" Kankuro took his puppet Karasu off from his back, and positioned him. Then, the puppet came right for Naruto. Naruto jumped of the way, only to be grabbed by the puppets and thrown to the ground.

"Ugh!" He groaned. He got up, stumbling but yelled out "Kage bunshin no jutsu!" Only three Narutos appeared. He was out of chakra now. One Naruto went towards Kankuro, which caught him off guard. Quickly, his puppet protected him. The puppet broke in many pieces and punctured Naruto. That one disappeared.

"Don't let your guard down!" Naruto said from behind him. Kankuro turned around to see Naruto with a glowing blue ball in his hands. Naruto yelled, "Rasengan!" and hit Kankuro. When it connected, he stopped his jutsu now only his hand hitting him. Gasping for air Kankuro said, "Nice work, but I'm not finished yet. Naruto looked at him in confusion as Kankuros puppet came up behind Naruto and capture him in the puppets stomach. Then Naruto was being stabbed by Karasu's arms and legs. A few seconds later, Kankuro let Naruto out, who was bleeding. He didn't let the mini swords go in all the way. That would've killed him.

"Sorry Naruto"

I-It's okay, I heal fast" Narutos wounds started smoking, which was a good sign of the cuts going away.

"I'll say. Well, I guess were done for the day." Kankuro said. Everyone nodded in agreement ad they walked back to the house.


	4. The awkward reunion

**Sound Village**

Shikamaru and Kakashi were discussing a plan to get in without being noticed. Sakura was sitting there, listening. She put in her opinion once in a while. One of her mini plans actually made it to the real thing.

"You all know the plan. Kakashi will take Orochimaru, Sakura, you will take Sasuke and I will take Kabuto. If there are anymore people, I'll use my shadow possession jutsu and we'll take them out. Understood?" Shikamaru said.

"Yes, now we'll enter the hideout, then look for Sasuke. Whoever finds him, concentrate your chakra and we'll find you. If it ends up being a fight, then play it out." Kakashi said.

"Okay, now lets go get Sasuke!" Sakura said, and they ran to the hideout. At the hideout, the three ninja stood at the entrance. Sakura made sure there were no genjutsu's while Kakashi scanned the area with his Sharingan for any traps. There were none so they slowly entered Orochimaru's lair. They walked the long hallway, watching the candles flicker as they went past. They walked in for a few more minutes until the long hallway ended and they found two passageways. They had no choice, but to split up.

Sakura and Shikamaru took the left and Kakashi took the right. Both hallways had many doors. Kakashi opened one, but no one was there. He open another and another, but each one was empty. In the other hall Sakura took the left side of the hallway and Shikamaru took the right, both opening doors saying, "Not here!" They ran to each door, looking for the traitor of Konaha.

Both groups got to the end of the hallway in 10 minutes. Kakashi's door and Shikamaru's opened to a large room. Sakura saw Kakashi on the other side of the room It had a huge snake statue at the front of the room with two chairs in the middle. They saw two people, sitting in those chairs.

"Looks like we have some guests" Orochimaru said. Kakashi, Sakura and Shikamaru walked to where Orochimaru at. They stood back about 12 feet.

"So it would seem. Would you like me to take them out for you?" Orochimaru's loyal servant, Kabuto said.

"Yes, but take the girl first. She'll be easy to kill." Sakuras face froze, as Kabuto ran towards Sakura with blue hands that look like wide, mini knives. "This is so troublesome!" Shikamaru said, as he captured Kabuto in his shadow possession jutsu.

"What the…!" Kabuto exclaimed.

"I've caught your shadow. Now you can't move, unless I say you can." He moved his left hand up in the air, and as much a Kabuto tried to resist it, his left hand also raised in the air. "See? Your fights with me." Shikamaru said.

Kakashi was now running towards Orochimaru. Orochimaru quickly jumped out of his seat, and landed by Sakura. He face position hadn't changed. He took a kunai out of Sakura's gear pouch and held it to her throat.

"Take one more step, and the girls dies!" Orochimaru hissed. Kakashi quickly stopped. He looked over at Shikamaru, who was now fighting Kabuto.

"No" An unfamiliar voice said. "You take Kakashi, I'll finish off this weak girl." Suddenly a tall figure appeared. You couldn't see his feature's, only the red eyes that held the girls gaze.

"Sasuke" Sakura whispered. Sasuke stood in front of Orochimaru. Orochimaru cut the girls throat a little, to leave a scratch bleeding. Orochimaru let her go and ran after Kakashi. "AHHH!!" Sakura screamed, as she hit the floor.

"Kakashi, your mine!!"

Sakura quickly brought green chakra to her hands and put them to her neck. In less than a minute, her neck was healed, only to leave a scar. She got up, stumbling to stand upright. She told he old childhood crush. "Long time to see, eh…Sasuke?" She put on her gloves. Sasuke didn't say anything, but got into a fighting stance. Sakura followed his example." "This should be quick," Sasuke said and charged at her. Sakura watched as he ran towards her. Sasuke threw many punches and kicks, but all of them were blocked by her arms. She jumped up as Sasuke bent his knees to try to make her trip. While up in the air, Sakura went to kick him in the face. It never connected, because Sasuke grabbed her leg, and threw her to a wall. She never hit it, because she punched the ground lightly, to stop her from continuing. She didn't want to show him her true power yet.

Orochimaru was fighting Kakashi. Nothing was really happening, because Kakashi was only copying his attacks. "That Sharingan is really good for fights. Do you remember who gave it to you? Uchiha……Obito, right?" Orochimaru said. Kakashi's eyes went wide, as he recognized his name.

"Ah, so you do remember him. Could you bring yourself to see him again?" He coaxed. Now, Orochimaru's appearance was changing. The clothes were changing as the Uchiha fan showed on his clothing. Orochimaru turned around, only to show Kakashi his old comrades face….with a missing eye.

'_Oh, no_' Kakashi thought.

Kabuto was now panting. He couldn't believe Shikamaru was so strong. Kabuto was bleeding from many spots. Mostly because he tricked him and threw Shurikens at him. Not it was time to finish it. Shikamaru used the last of his chakra and used the Shadow possession jutsu again.Then, he used the jutsu to strangle him. After 10 minutes flat…..Kabuto was dead.

**Sand Village**

Everyone had gone somewhere to eat. Suddenly, Naruto felt a pain in his stomach. He bent over and cried in pain.

Gaara asked, "What's wrong?"

Naruto replied, "I-I don't know. I have a feeling something terrible is happening now."

**Orochimars's lair**

Sakura had been kicked in the stomach; She wiped the blood coming from her mouth. '_He's gotten much stronger, I don't know if I was-_.' She coughed up more blood. Sasuke looked at her, following her movement. He was also bleeding from the mouth.

"Could you do it?" Sakura whispered. Sasuke, with a sneer said, "Do what?"

"Could you kill me, just like you almost killed Naruto?" Sasuke couldn't say anything. It surprised him to hear the name of his best friend from years ago.

"I don't know" was his only reply. Sakura took advantage of his silence, and ran towards him. Sasuke saw this, but only when it was to late. Sakura brought Chakra to her hand and punched him in the chest, which caused him to fly backwards, and hit the wall that was 20 feet behind him. Sakura walked up to the Uchiha in furry.

"How could you?! How could you kill your best friend? Naruto never did anything to you. He saved your life at least three times. He thought of you as a brother!!" Sakura yelled at him. Sasuke looked a little taken back. He replied.

"I could never kill my best friend. I wouldn't let Itachi get what he wanted. I needed power to kill him."

"You still didn't answer my quest-."

"He was powerful!" Sasuke yelled. He tried to get up to hit her, but was only punched in the face. He fell back to the floor. A few seconds of silence,

"I hated how h was always stronger than I was. I hated how every time I tried to save you guys, I would get knocked down, and Naruto would find a way to win the fight." Sakura looked at Sasuke like he was stupid.

"I don't know what to say besides you all wrong. Well, your right about one thing, Naruto did save us, but you helped. Remember that time when we had to help Idate win the race? And that guy we ran into on the way, who had that lightning sword, by the bridge? Well, when you used Chidori, you made a crack in the sword. When you went unconscious, over the edge of the cliff, Naruto found that crack, used Rasengan, and broke it." Sasuke looked at Sakura. '_Did I really crack the sword?_' he thought. Sakura continued.

"And what's with all this powerful crap? In his eyes, he was never strong. Naruto looked up to you. He wanted to be just like you! And you know what? When everyone told him he was strong and would become a great Hokage one day, he didn't listen to any of them. He didn't care what _they_ said. Naruto only cared about what _you_ thought. He wanted _you_ to acknowledge _him._"

Sasukes eyes grew wide. He couldn't believe that Naruto wanted to be like him, Sasuke looked down in shame. He remembered the good times Team 7 had. When they were in Mist, Naruto and him were climbing trees, trying to beat the other getting to the top. Another time was when they were at the Chuunin Exams, when Sasuke appeared with Kakashi and Naruto had just won his fight against Neji.

Sasuke stood up and grabbed his chest in pain. _'That punch really hurt. What have you been up too, Sakura?'_ He looked at Sakura, who was now crying.

"After your fight with Naruto, everyone came back injuried. Shikamaru, Chouji, Neji and Kiba all came back with many injuries. Chouji and Neji almost died, fighting. Temari, Gaara and Kankuro came to help bring you back too! Even Lee came to help, even after coming right out of surgery, came out to help Naruto fight off Kimminaro."

Sasuke felt like crap now. Everyone risked their lives, just to come and rescue him. He remembered asking Naruto, 'Why do you waste so much effort on…me'

"I didn't know people would go so far…..only to save me" Sasuke said.

"Even though people thought of you differently than Naruto and I, they still thought of you as a comrade, part of the village."Sasuke thought about this. He shouldn't be feeling sorry for what he did. He should be killing Sakura, not listening to her lifetime stories. He got ready to fight, when he heard Sakuras voice again.

"You know about the Kyuubi that attacked the Village, right?"

Sasuke nodded,

"And that it was sealed inside of a baby boy?" he nodded his head once more.

"That baby boy…..was Naruto."

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So that's that chapter. It took me a half hour to finish this, lol.

I hope you liked it. There will be more with Kakashi and 'Obito" in the next chapter. Review!!

Crystal


	5. A shocking story!

**Sand Village**

Gaara and Naruto were walking though the Village, Naruto being disguised as Nartumaru. They had gone to find something to eat.

"So what do you think Konaha will be like, when you get back?" Gaara asked

"I don't know, honestly. I hope that its still the same, Tsunade-obaa-chan's face will be carved into the rock, and all my friends will be there. Except you guys, of course. Otherwise, I don't think it will be that different." He shrugged.

"How do you think Sasuke is with Orochimaru?" Naruto looked like he had been hit with a kunai.

"Oh no! Orochimaru is going to take over Sasuke's body!! Its been about...oh, three years and there was one more year, so...That means he has only one year left! What am I going to do?"

"Don't worry, I'm sure someone got him, or he left." Gaara knew that wasn't the case, but he was trying to make Naruto feel better. Naruto also knew that he was trying to make him feel better and said, "Yeah, your right. I shouldn't worry so much, thanks." When they found a restaurant they sat down, ordered and ate their food.

"Gaara...?" Naruto said

"Yeah?"

"Thanks again for letting me stay here. I know its hard to keep me a secret and all."

"Oh...well dont worry about it. Temari Kankuro and I enjoy you here. We've all made a best friend" Naruto nodded, and they went back to finishing their food. Once finished, they headed back to their house.

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Kakashi watched as Obito Uchiha was forming, The red and white fan on the back of his shirt, the green goggles he wore, it was an exact replication. Once the transformation was finished, Obito turned around to reveal his face. One eye was missing.

"Can you right your old comrade? The one who gave you the Sharningan you have today?" He hissed, then started laughing his snake like laugh. Kakashi couldn't move, he couldn't talk, he was totally useless. Shikamaru came by to give him some back up.

"Kakashi, who is that?" He asked. "T-T-That's Orochimaru in a transformation. The man right now...was once my best friend...but he died along time ago." Shikamaru looked up with surpirse. '_Could this guy get any lower?_' Shikamaru knew that Kakashi was shocked, and decided to take over.

"Dont worry, I'll take care of him." and with that, Orochimaru took after Shikamaru, and attacked.

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"W-What?!" Sasuke exclaimed.

"The baby boy, that the Fourth sealed the kyuubi into, was Naruto. Thats why everyone treated him so wickedly. The villagers didn't see Uzumaki Naruto, they saw a monster, who killed their family members and friends. That's why Iruka-sensei and Team 7 meant so much to him." Sakura said. Sasuke couldnt believe it. He was only gone for three years, and he missed so much. Naruto...was the Kyuubi container? But he shouldn't care. This was exactly what he knew would happen, getting sidetracked from his goal. He needed to get power to kill Itachi. He couldn't worry about how Naruto's life was. He got up and went towards Sakura, but was punched again into the wall. The wall cracked."Ugh!" he cried.

"You can keep trying to get up, you wont be able to. And it's true."

"It's not true. You have no proof of-"

"You have enough proof to fill 5 peoples heads!!!! Naruto told me about the fight that went on between you two. You know that weird chakra that you saw? The red one? _That_ was the Kyuubi's power." Sasuke blinked. I guess that was enough proof. No wonder he was also stonger than him, he had help. Sasukes anger grew again. Before he could do anything, Sakura spoke.

"You told him in that fight, that he didnt understand what it felt like to lose anybody. Can you guess how he feel now? Knowing that his best friend, his _brother_ left him and actually tried to kill him." Sakura had calmed down now. She waited for Sasukes response. His head was inclined to to the floor.

" I didn't know that...Naruto actually knew how I felt. Being alone with nobody around. I cant imagine what he feels like now." Sasuke admitted

"He felt like crap, especially since he promised me he would bring you back but he didn't. His ninja way was to never go back on his word, or die trying." Sakura started to cry. "Then, the worst thing happened. After everyone had healed from their injuries, it was Narutos Birthday. He planned on spending the entire day with his friends, and eating ramen. But, the council called and asked to speak with him. He was charged with the failure to bring you back and all the injuries that were had on the mission. He was also charged with being a danger to the village." She fell to her knees, and talked to her hands. "N-Naruto was banished from Konaha...for five years." She cried even harder. Sasuke just stood there, surprised more than ever. If he had just stayed in Konaha, they'd all still be a team and Naruto would be in theVillage.

"Finish her off, Sasuke!!"

Orochimaru called from the other end of the room. If he were any closer, he'd be yelling in Sakuras ear. He couldn't do anything but yell, because he was caught in Shikamarus Shadow Possession jutsu. Kakashi was standing next to Shikamaru. They all were about 7 feet from Sasuke and Sakura.

"Finish her off, now!! Can't you seen your at an advantage? Go, kill her!!" He was still yelling. Shikamaru put a hand over his own mouth, which caused Orochimaru to follow. Now, Orochimaru could only mumble.

Sasuke looked at Sakura with a look of disgust. He reached behind him and pulled his katana out of its sheath. Sakura looked up from her hands, and started backing away, on her back, with her feet and hands. Sasuke raised the katana above his head and ran towards Sakura.

"Die!!"

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OMG!! A cliffy! Haha. XD I know, Im sorry. I have the next chapter done, but i have to type it up first. Hope you like the story so far!

Crystal


	6. A new beginning

Thank you guys for all the criticism. Its greatly appreciated. I'm trying to stay to the characters personality but it has proved rather difficult, lol. Heres chapter 6! Hope you like it.

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"Die!!" Sasuke yelled, and ran towards Sakura. Sasuke activated his Sharingan, making sure no one would come at him with surprise..

"No!" Shikamaru and Kakashi yelled. Sakura screamed. Sasuke ran towards Sakura, then took a sharp left towards Orochimaru.

"MMnMMnNNm!!" You could hear Orochimaru's protests. Shikamaru quickly let go of his Shadow Possession, while Sasuke took the katana and plunged it through Orochimaru. "W-Why...y-you!" Orochimaru said, with his last breath. Sasuke de-pleated his Sharingan and extracted the bloody katana from the dead body. Kakashi walked over to Sasuke and said "Its nice to have you back, Sasuke."

Sasuke nodded. Shikamaru than walked over. "Your even more troublesome than Naruto. Is that even possible?"

"Yeah, about a few years ago, with the mission..." He wasn't the type to apologize.

"Its alright man" Shikamaru said. Sasuke walked over to Sakura, who was healing herself now. Her green chakra was growing faint, because of how exhausted she was. When she saw a hand enter her line of vision, she looked up to see a face she hadn't really looked for years. She took his hand, and Sasuke pulled her up. They walked over to Kakashi and Shikamaru, waiting for directions.Upon waiting, Sakura asked,

"Are you okay? I'll heal any-"

"I'll be fine. Besides, you should rest." Sasuke said, a little tired himself. Kakashi, Shikamaru, Sasuke and Sakura gathered up what was left of Kabuto and Orochimaru, and put them in a pile, in the middle of the room. Sasuke used one of his fire jutsus and burned them. They watched the flickering flames as Orochimaru and Kabuto were now nothing but ashes. Then, all four of them left, leaving the godforsaken place, never to return again. While walking back to their village, Kakashi and Sakura informed Sasuke of everything that had happened over the past years. Not that he was listening to all of it.

**Sand Village**

Jiraya had come by and taught Naruto a new wind technique that had do do with Rasengan. This jutsu was Kinjutsu. These jutsus were rarely used. They only used them unless everything else failed. Jiraya had also told the four of them the he had seen Akatsuki, and that they needed to be careful.

Naruto was standing on a sandy area, watching the sand in the air turn in many circles. It was almost like his new jutsu. Considering that this was his first wind technique, he had to do this in steps. The first step was to take a leaf and try to cut it in half with only his chakra. Since there were no trees around, he used a piece of paper Temari had given him to use. "Kage bunshin no jutsu!" He yelled, as many Narutos appeared. Jiraya aslo tolf him the whatever his clones learn, as soon as the jutsu disappeared, he would gain the knowledge. Each shadow clone held the paper and put it in between his hands. Naruto tried to concentrate the chakra to his hands to cut the paper, but it proved very difficult. All Naruto's tried, and sonner or later one of them made progress.

"I got it!" A Naruto yelled. He had made a cut in the paper. All the clones went towards him and was asking "How did you do that? Let me see!" The real Naruto made the clones disappear and waited a few seconds. Once the information got to him, he tried it himself. He concentrated his chakra once more, and watched the leaf, almost instantly, rip into two peices. Naruto fell with a thud, because his chakra was so low, he couldn't do anything. He fell in to the sandy desert with a smile on his face.

_The next day_

Naruto woke up, with sand all over him. Gaara was sitting next to him. "You need to get home. Rest."

"B-But I almost h-had it!" Naruto complained. "You can try in a couple days. Lets go." Gaara said, and helped Naruto get home.


	7. Reunion anyone?

**In Konaha**

Kakashi, Sakura Shikamaru and Sasuke entered their Village, being greeted by the two guards. When the guards saw Sasuke, they became frightened. Walking through the village towards the Hokages office, Sasuke got a lot more unwanted attention. This reminded him of how Naruto was treated in his earlier years, with the whispers and pointing. He hod only been exposed to this for a few minutes. Naruto experienced this his entire life. He didn't know how he handled it. '_I just learned to tune it out._' He remembered Naruto telling him one time.

"Nothing much has changed here, has it Sasuke?" Sakura said. He snapped back to reality when he heard his name being called. He looked around at the buildings and he streets. The people and their children running around, trying to catch the other.

"Not really. Only Tsunade's head has been added to the Mountain." Sakura looked at the mountain."Yeah, that was about a year or so ago." They continued on to Lady Tsunade's office. When they entered, she looked over each of them, looking for any injuries. She didn't need to check Sakura, being a med-nin and all, but she did nonetheless. When she got to Sasuke, she paused for a minute and looked over him. He was now dressed in a white shirt, his chest bear and blue pants with tape tied at the bottom.

"Welcome back, Sasuke." Tsunade said. Sasuke inclined his head as she asked if he was hurt at all. He just shook his head. Kakashi told the Hokage that she'd get a full report tomorrow on her desk. She nodded and dismissed everyone except Sasuke. Once everyone had gone, she said,

"Sasuke, you realize that you will be punished for betraying this village. I don't know how serious the punishment will be, but because you came back on your own free will, and didn't kill anybody, I'm sure the council will give you some leeway. There is a meeting in ten minutes, and after i will let you know your punishment. You are dismissed." Sasuke nodded, said his thanks and left the office. Sakura was waiting outside the office for Sasuke.

Once they shut the door, they left and walked though the street of Konaha, enjoying the nice day. Birds were flying around, while the wind was blowing in their face. The wind made Sasuke and Sakura's hair waver. They headed towards the training grounds untill some one stopped them three minutes later.

"Hey, fore-head girl! Who's your hot friend next to you?" Ino said. Sakura and Sasuke stopped in theirs tracks. Neither of them turned around.

"Well come on Sakura, introduce us!" Sakura was laughing silently, while Sasuke was smirking.

"And to think you had a crush on me...Ino." Sasuke said, surprising her with the knowledge of her name. Ino, however, was about to fall over.'_ The hot guy knows my name, EEEEEEE!_' She thought. Sasuke and Sakura turned toward Ino.

"You mean you don't recognize him?" Sakura asked, still laughing. Ino looked at Sasuke. Then suddenly what the guy said earlier popped into her head.'_And to think you had a crush on me...Ino._' The only boy she had ever had a crush on was...

"Oh my god! Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!!! Sasuke, is that really you?" Ino said, full of surprise. He nodded his head, once.

"Oh my god, Shikamaru. Chouji! Get over here. Look who's returned!" Ino ran towards Sasuke at full speed, just like old times. "Oh, its so good to see you, Sasuke-kun!" Sasuke just stood there in the middle of the street, with Ino hugging him. He had an annoyed expression on his face. Sakura was laughing at Sasuke's face. Right then, Shikamaru and Chouji came into view.

"What do you want, Ino? You're so troubleso-Oh hey." Shikamaru said, while looking at Sasuke. Sasuke nodded his greetings.

"Wait, who is that Shikamaru? How do you know him?" Shikamarus best friend Chouji asked. He looked over at Ino and the man.

"Who's the only person that Ino would ever hug like that, and be all over?"

"Uhhh, her mom?"

"No, from the Academy. We went on a mission to go get him, and Kakashi, Sakura and I brought him back...from Orochimaru."

"You mean?" Chouji asked, knowing who he was now.

"Yes, thats Uchiha Sasuke." Shikamaru said. Shouji looked over him and sure enough, it was.

For the rest of the day, he walked around Konaha to all of his friends and comrades. All of them ended up at the training grounds, talking and catching-up . A few people were sparring each other. It was almost like a party. Sakura got up, and walked to Training grounds 7 where Team 7 spent their time training. Everyone fell silent, as they watched Sakura leave. It was unusual for her to leave so early, especially since this was about Sasuke.

Sakura was in the middle of the training grounds. She looked at where she once hid from Kakashi, when the three of them had to get the bells. The surrounding trees were bound with new leafs, and the flowers at the bottom of the trees bloomed. She looked at the tree in the middle of the area, where Naruto was hung because he fell into a trap Kakashi left. Sakura laughed. After Sakura and Sasuke had gotten the bells, Naruto was tied to the tree stump.

She walked over to the middle one, and put her hand over it. She felt like she had something to do with his banishment. She wished she could do something. . . anything to help him. Sakura put her back to the stump and slid down it, to a sitting position. She starting crying. Two and a half more years until Team 7 would be one again. After a few seconds, she got up, and turned around to go back, but bumped into Sasuke. She wiped the tears from her eyes, and walked past him.

"Sakura, are you okay?" Sasuke said, as he reached out and grabbed her wrist. She turned around, unwillingly.

"Nothing's wrong, I just miss Naruto. Its been really boring, with no waking up to Naruto yelling in the morning. Two and a half more years, untill he we can a team again." Sasuke nodded, understanding. They walked back to where everyone else, sat down and talked.

**Naruto's training, one week later.**

Naruto was now practicing the jutsu fully. Over the past week, he had gotten the entire jutsu down. Now, he would try it completely. He made his Rasengan, and added his wind element to it. This jutsu was five times stronger than Rasengan alone. The Rasengan crackled and turned into a huge blue shuriken. Naruto smiled, as he realized he had completed it. He yelled, "Fuuton: Rasen Shuriken" and ran to a huge boulder about 4 feet in front of him, and jammed the jutsu to the boulder. He had shattered into many pieces.

He walked back home, where Temari was making dinner. Kankuro Gaara and Temari had enjoyed Narutos company so much, they didn't think of his as a friend anymore. They thought of him as part of their family. Naruto thought the same way about then. They sat at the table, as Temari brought out their meal.

"So Naruto, hows that new jutsu of yours?" Temari asked, putting ramen in each of their bowls. They also had rice with it, on a plate next to the bowl. She served herself last. Naruto ate a bit of his ramen, and said, " The jutsus great! I finally completed it, but if i use it to much, it will burn my hands. He looked at his red hands, as he spoke.

"Yeah, well I've come up with a new jutsu too." Kankuro said.

"I can float on sand now." Gaara said. The four siblings talked about their new jutsus and how they walked. The finished eating, then went to bed.

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"So what did Tsunade-sensei want, Sasuke?" Sakura asked.

"She called me to tell me what my punishment was." He replied. They kept walking, towards his house. Sasuke was heading home, but Sakura was following him there. Sakura waited a few seconds, waiting for Sasuke to tell her what the punishment was. "So?" He finally asked.

"So what?"

"What is your punishment?"

He sighed. "Im to be guarded by two ANBU members untill the council believes I won't go running off again. Im also only allowed to go on B-ranked missions and lower till the two ANBU members leave." Sasuke said. "Well, thats not so bad." Sakura said, thinking that he would be in worst trouble. He shrugged. They said their goodbyes and he walked into his house. The one thats been abandoned for years. Sakura left and walked to her house for the night. They both dreamed of Naruto that night.

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SO thats the 7th chapter. I hoped you liked it. The characters are a little OOC but im trying to get a bit of SasuXSaku and ShikaXTemari. Bare with me till the next chapter. I promise I'll have it up soon! Reviews are greatly appreciated! 


	8. The letter for Sensei

_Thank you for ALL the reviews. It really keeps me motivated. Hope you like this chapter!__sry for the time skips. I couldn't think of anything to write between them. Some people wanted more Naruto. I think I added enough, and please tell me if i didn't. I'll update soon!_

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** One and a half years later.**

"I can't believe in one more year, I can return to Konaha!" Naruto exclaimed. Gaara smiled, happy Naruto was happy. They were in the living room area talking.

"I think I'll write a letter to Kakashi. Tell him I can't wait to be back!"

"Don't you want people not to know your here?" Gaara said, wondering how he would do it.

"I think I'll summon Gamakichi and send him to Jiraya and have him give Kakashi the letter.That way, people still won't know where I am...Yeah, I'll do that!" Naruto said, and left for him room, He walked down the long hallway to him room, which was the last door of the left. He sat on his bed, found some ink and paper and started writing.

_Dear Kakashi, _

_ It's been a long time, hasn't it? I was thinking on how in one more year I can return and see you,Sakura and everyone else, and decided to write. I summoned Gamakichi so he could give you this letter. I just wanted everyone to know I'm great. Jiraya has come by and taught me a few new jutsus to keep me busy. I've mastered them all. One took me about 5 months to get. _

_Please tell Sakura and everyone else that I'm sorry I couldn't bring back Sasuke. By now, Orochimaru has taken over his body, and it's all my fault. I feel sad, knowing Sakura loved him. I made a promise to her that I couldn't keep. _

_I always looked up to Sasuke, hoping that one day, I'd catch up to him and we could be equals. I always thought of him as my older brother, seeing how we were good friends at one point, and how he was 4 months older than me. I have no brother now, and that brings tears to my eyes. _

_Tell everyone I miss them and can't wait to be back. Also, tell Ero-Sennin that I need a new jutsu to work on. Feel free to write back with Gamakichi._

_P.S. Tell Tsunade I said hi, and miss her the most._

_Best of Luck,_

_Uzumaki Naruto _

After he signed the letter, he folded the letter, and addressed it to Kakashi-sensei. Then, Naruto bit his finger, hitting the floor yelling, "Kuchiyose no jutsu!" A puff of smoke came, and when the wind cleared it away, a small black and orange toad appeared. Gamakichi stood there, looking at the surroundings. Then he said,

"Hey kid, give me some munchies, and I'll play with you."

"Hey Gamakichi. Could you give this to Jiraya for me? Tell him that I would like him to give it to the man addressed on the letter. Can you do that?" Naruto said,and handed him the letter.

"Sure thing." The toad said and "poofed" away after Naruto said his thanks. He layed down on his bed, waiting for one more year, till he could return to his friends.

**In Konaha**

Kakashi, Sakura and Sasuke were training of their training ground. Kakashi was now hiding someplace. Sakura looked left...right...up...and behind. No sign of him. The terrain they were on was about to get really messy. "Then that only leaves...Below!!" Sakura yelled, as she took he left fist, and hit the ground. The ground trembled, then finally broke. Kakashi was there, with eyes wide open, ' _He strength always surprises me._' He thought.

"Kakashi-Sensei?" Sakura said

"Hm?" He said.

"I found you." She said, smirking, just like Sasuke did. It was like she learned it from him. Speaking of Sasuke, he looked at her with the same eyes Kakashi had. Her power surprised him the most. This was the first time he's seen her use that to the fullest of its power. He found his voice and yelled, about 10 feet away, "Nice work, Sakura!" He was so far away, cause when the ground split, he didn't exactly want to fall in. Sakura smiled.

Just then, Jiraya appeared, with something rectangular in his hands.

"Jiraya-sama, what are you doing here?" Sakura said.

"Well, I have a letter here for a..." He looked at the letter, getting conformation. "...Kakashi-_sensei_." He emphasized the -sensi part.

"You mean?" Sakura asked.

"I don'y know, ask Kakashi." Jiraya gave him the letter. Kakashi took the letter and opened it. Sasuke and Sakura walked over closer to him, too see who it was from. He read it once to himself, then read it out loud.

"_Dear Kakashi-sensei, Its been a long time hasn't it? I was thinking how in one more year, I'll be able to see you Sakura and everyone else." _Kakashi read, as Sakura listened intently.

"_I summoned Gamakichi so he could give you this."_ Jiraya was surprised that Naruto had found out away to communicate with people, without revealing his location. He smiled at his student.

"_I just want to let everyone know I'm great! Jiraya has come by and taught me a few jutsus that I've mastered." _Kakashi stopped reading as everyone looked at Jiraya. He was still smiling, untill he noticed Kakshi had stopped reading. He had to defend himself.

"I can't tell you. He says he wants to stay hidden." Kakashi nodded, and continued.

"_The last one took me about 5 months to get." _Kakashi stopped again and looked at Sasuke. Sasuke just stood there, untill Kakashi said, "You might want to listen to this part closely, Sasuke." Sasuke put his head up, and waited for Kakashi to continue.

"_Please tell Sakura and everyone else I'm sorry I couldn't bring back Sasuke. By now, Orochimaru has taken over his body, and its all my fault." _Kakashi paused, to see Sasuke's reaction. Sasuke, had his head down. He looked like he was sad for a minute.

"_I feel sad, knowing that Sakura loved him. I made a promise to her, that I couldn't keep."_ Sakura started to cry. She fell on her knees and cried to her hands.

"_I always looked up to Sasuke, hoping that one day, I'd catch up to him and we could be equals_._I always thought of him as my older brother, seeing how we were good friends at one point, and he was 4 months older than me. I have no brother now, and that brings tears to my eyes."_ Kakashi paused again. Sasuke still had his head down. Guilt, that was what showed on his face.

"_Tell everyone I miss them, and can't wait to come back. Also, tell Ero-Sennin that I need a new jutsu to work on."_ Jiraya smiled, while Kakashi Sakura and Sasuke laughed.

_"Feel free to write back with Gamakichi. Best of Luck, Uzumaki Naruto." _He finished what he was going to read to them, and folded the letter back and put it in his pocket.

"Well, I have a letter to write, and a greeting to give. If you guys would like to write him, just give it to me or 'Ero-Sennin'" Kakashi said, calling Jiraya by Naruto's nickname.

"Hey! Only Naruto can call me that!" Jiraya yelled.

"Heh heh, okay. Training for today is over. Bye!" And with that, the Jounin left. Jiraya also left, leaving Sakura and Sasuke by themselves. Sasuke walked over to where Sakura was. She was still crying. He knelt down next to her, and put a hand on her back.

"Are you going to write him, Sakura?" Sasuke said. She nodded and got up. "Will you write, Sasuke?" He didn't actually know. He would think about, was what he told her. Sasuke thought to himself, _'After all this time, and what i did to him, he still thinks of my as his brother. I guess me and Sakura were the siblings he never had.'_ Sakura left to go to her house. Once she got there, she took out some paper and ink, and wrote her letter.

**Hokages office**

"You mean to say that Naruto was wrote to you?" Tsunade said, after hearing the"hellp" Kakshi had givin her from Naruto.

"Yes, here read for yourself." Kakashi gave her the letter. She took it, and read. She actually had to read it twice, just to believe it was from him.

"Do you know where he is?" Tsunade was thinking of writing him a letter.

"No, but Jiraya does, as you can tell. Naruto said that I should give the letter to Gamakichi, which I'm guessing is one of their summons of toads. You'd have to giv the letter to him." Kakashi explained.

"Oh, well then, I have a letter to write. Excuse me...and Thank you." Tsunade said.

"Yes lady Hokage." Kakashi said, and disappeared. '

**Kakashi's Apartment.**

Sitting alone in his apartment, Kakashi sat down and took out the necessary supplies to write his letter. After he finished it, he put it in his pocket to give to Jiraya tomorrow.

**Uchiha Household**

Sasuke sat on his bed, thinking what he would write Naruto. He decided to write him, just to tell him he wasn't dead. '_I can't believe I almost killed him' _He thought. Sasuke thought of many ways to address his letter. Finally, he sat down and wrote his letter. He didn't make it long, because he wasn't the type to write a heart felt letter like Sakura would. He folded the letter and waited for tomorrow to come.

**_Next day_**

Team 7 met at the training grounds. Jiraya was there to get the letters people had written to Naruto. He had already gotten Tsunades early that morning. Kakashi was first to give him his letter. Then Sakura. What surprised everyone was when Sasuke walked up to Jiraya and handed him a letter. Next, Kakashi gave him one more letter. Jiraya made some hand signs, bit his hand and Summoned Gamakichi.

"Hey Jiraya!" Gamakichi said.

"Hey Gamakichi. These letters are all for Naruto. Could you give him them, when he summons you?" The toad said yes, and put the letters in his little toad jacket. Then, the toad disappeared.


	9. Letters for Naruto

**Three days later in the Sand**

Gaara, Temari and Kankuro were on a mission, so Naruto was stuck by himself. He couldn't find anything to do, so he decided to play with Gamakichi. Gamakichi apeared, with numerous letters on his back.

"Please tell me these arn't all for me." Naruto pleaded.

"Sorry kid, there all yours."

"Okay, well if you want you can stay here, while I read these. Afterwords, I'll play leap frog " He saw the look on Gamakichis face, and quickly changed the word. "Leap toad, if you want." "Okay!!" Naruto unloaded the letters on his back. He opened on that said, Naruto-kun.

_Dear Naruto-kun,_

_You have nothing to be sorry for. Im just glad your allright._

_I wish I knew where you were, so I could come and visit you. I miss you so much._

_The part where you talked about Sasuke made me cry. He means the world to you, doesn't he? And if he's your brother, that better mean im part of the family too! Ha ha._

_Oh , I wish I could hear your voice once more. I will count the days until your return. By the way, Happy Belated 16th Birthday._

_Your sister, _

_Haruno Sakura. _

Naruto smiled at the letter, He knew Sakura would say that. He put that letter aside and opened one that just plainly said his name.

_Naruto, _

_It's so great to hear from you. I was worried sick about you. I'm sorry I couldn't do anything about the council. I tried everything._

_Oh, it was your birthday a few days ago, wasn't it? Happy Birthday. So what, are you 16 now? My, your getting old._

_I have to end this letter, because i have alot of paperwork to do. Part of the job, I guess. Wish to see you soon!_

_Your obaa-chan, _

_Tsunade_

Naruto forgave her about the along time ago. He knew he put all her heart into trying to keep him there. Gamakichi was leaping around the room, letting Naruto's head band fall off his desk. He grabbed another letter, again, plainly addressed to him.

_Naruto, _

_So, you've master the jutsus I gave you? Good work. At the moment I don'y have a new jutsu to teach you, but when I do, I'll be there ASAP _. _Hope you are doing well, I'll see you in a a few weeks._

_Ero-Sennin. _

Naruto just had to laugh at this. The Jiraya, who always denied himself of being a pervert, had actually signed his name as Ero-Sennin. Gamakichi asked what was so funny, and Naruto told him about it. Gamakichi croaked with laughter. Still laughing, he picked up one that said, "Number one, maverick show stopped, comedy ninja, Naruto" He smiled, and opened it.

_Hey Naruto, _

_We all wanted to say we miss you, and can't wait for you to come back. People here are actually starting to fall asleep, because your not here to wake them up! Well, Kiba and Akamaru fixed that problem. Anyway, we're all here for you._

_From_

_TenTen, Hinata, Ino, Neji, Chouji, Shino, Kiba and Akamaru, Rock Lee, Shikamaru Asuma-Sensei, Kurenai-Sensei, Iruka-Sensei, Konahamaru, and many many more._

Naruto started to cry. Everyone on the list, Iruka-Sensei, Fuzzy brows, and Hinata. He couldn't believe o many people wanted him back. He hoped time would pass alittle quicker now. He wiped the tears, and opened the next on.

_Dear Naruto,_

_I's so glad to hear from you. I gave your greeting to Tsunade and she was pleased to hear from you as well. So, you've mastered some new jutsus, eh? I can't wait to see them in battle. I'm sure you'll do amazing, just like you always do. _

_While i was walking to the Hokages office, I ran into Hinata and Kiba. They both said their hellos, as well as Neji, Shikamaru and everyone else. They gave me a letter to give to you, which I'm sure you will read, or have read. They all miss you._

_Well, I'm off for a mission, and if i don't show up on time, Tsunade will surly put me inthe hospital._

_See you in a year kid, _

_Kakashi-sensei._

_"_Yeah, I won't be surprised if I have to visit him when I get back. He's_ never_ on time." Naruto told himself. The next one surprised him. It was Addressed to a 'Little Brother'.

"Hey Gamakichi? Did Jiraya say that all of these were mine? I think this one was for someone else."

"Nope, all the letters he told me were for you." Gamakichi said, as he continued to jump around.

"Oh, well okay. This is the last one. I'll play with you after." "Okay" At first Naruto just stared at the white piece of paper in front of him. After a few seconds, he finally opened the letter.

_Dear Dobe, _

_Its been a long long time, hasn't it? FYI, I'm not dead, you moron. Orochimaru didn't toke over my body either, so when you get back, you better not call me snake-boy or something. In the future, I hope to earn your trust back, and you can call me brother again. Get back quick._

_Your teme, _

_Uchiha Sasuke._

Naruto read, read and reread the letter. He couldn't believe it. After all these years, he thought Sasuke was dead, and now he received a letterWas he really back, or was someone playing a cruel joke on him? He put the letter down, and told Gamakichi about it.

"Do you think he's really back?" Naruto asked.

"I don't know, I'm only a toad." The toad said, and they played leap fro-I mean toad.


	10. The Mission

_Some one asked which Toad was Gamakichi, and thats the yellow and black one. You guys are in for surprise in the upcoming chapters. Thank you to my reviewers. Heres chapter 10. Chapter 11 will be on soon._

* * *

  
**10 months later.**

Kakashi, Sakura and Sasuke were eating at Naruto's faovrotie place to eat, Ichiraku's Ramen stand. This place was like a memorial for them. Everyday, Naruto would come here and eat. They sat, wondering what Naruto was doing. They talked about the good times with Naruto, and the funniest memories. The funniest one waa when the three of them tried to see what was under Kakashi's mask. Then Sasuke's smile, fell into a frown.

"What wrong, Sasuke?" Sakura asked him, finishing her bowl of Ramen.

"That's the last good memory I have with all three of us." Sasuke said. Sakura thought about it for a second, cause she didn't understand. She recalled that they went on the mission to help Idate, and after that...

"Oh..." Sakura said. She remembered that right after the Idate mission, Sasuke and Naruto had gotten in that fight, then he left for Orochimaru. The tree of them sat in silence the rest of the time.

"Two more months guys. He'll be back in two months." Kakashi said, trying to lighten the mood. The two jounin nodded, while Kiba, Hinata and Shino came by.

"Hey, Lady Tsunade wants to speak to you guys." Shino said.

"Yeah, she's says its about Naruto." Kiba said, Hinata nodded.

"Okay, thanks. Lets go guys." Quickly, Sasuke and Sakura left the ramen stand. They stood, waiting for Kakashi. '_Of course, they make me pay.'_ Kakashi thought. He payed for the meal, and walked outside.

"Thanks Kakashi" Sakura said, Sasuke just stood there with a smirk on his face.

"No problem, now lets go and see what see wants." Kakashi said, and they ran to her office.

When they got to her door, the immediatly heard yelling. "What do you mean, their on the move again!?" Tsunade was yelling.

"Exactly what it means. Akatsuki are on the move. They just finished taking the four-tailed beast. The only ones left are Gaara, Naruto, and some other one from Rock" Jiraya said, in a calm voice. Kakashi knocked on the door, before either Sakura or Sasuke could head anymore.

"Come in!" Tsunade yelled, as the three of them entered the room. Jiraya was next to the windows, with his left foot propped up on the wall, head down.

"So we have a mission for you. This is an S-ranked mission. Sasuke, you are allowed to go on this mission, because it involved Naruto. In eight weeks, you guys will go to the Sand Village to get Naruto and bring him back. This is S-ranked because Akatsuki are after Gaara and Naruto. While your there, you are to protect Gaara also. Akatsuki are very dangerous. Jiraya had finally told me the location of Naruto, which was with Gaara." She threw a glare at Jiraya. "Be sure to train hard. You are dismissed." Tsunade told them. Whwn they left the office, and were on the Konaha streets again, Sakura said,

"I can't believe Naruto had been with Gaara all this time!"

"Well, If we're going to fight Akatsuki, then we have to train extra hard. then Sasuke..." Sasuke looked and Kakashi. " You might get the revenge you've wanted for so long." Sasuke lutched his fist.

**One month, and three weeks.**

Sasuke and Sakura were waiting at the gate for Kakashi to show up. He was always late, but they didn't think he's be late for this mission. It was for Naruto after all.

"Hey, Sakura?" Sasuke said.

She looked up at him. "Yeah?"

"Do you think Naruto will forgive me?" Sasuke said, a little shaky. He wasn't usually this. . . open. Sakura walked in front of him. His head was down, so she took her hand , after a few seconds, and raised his head. Sasuke looked up.

"Sasuke, Naruto forgave you along time ago. He doesn't blame anything on you. _You _should know that." Sakura told him. She hugged him, knowing that in about wo seconds, he'd pull away.Surprisingly, he didn't. Sasuke put his arms around her, and hugged her back. Just then, Kakashi appeared.

"Okay you two lovebirds, are you ready to go?" Kakashi said, smiling. Sakura blushed as Sasuke just turned his head.

"Yeah, lets go." Sasuke said, and they set off to get their teammate back.

* * *


	11. The Sharingan!

**Three days later**

Temari and Kankuro went to the Kazekages office to talk with him about their past mission, so Naruto and Gaara were sitting in the living room, talking. Naruto told Gaara that in six more days, he could return to Konaha.

"I'm going to miss it here. I can't thank you enough, for letting me stay here." Naruto said.

"It was nothing, Naruto" Gaara said. Suddenly there was a knock at the door. "I'll get it" Naruto said, as he walked towards the door. He open the door, and was met by a pair of Sharingan eyes, and the man said.

"Oh, look who we have here Kisame! Its been a long time, eh Naruto. We were only here for Gaara, but you can come too." Itachi Uchiha said.Naruto's eyes were wide, as he remembered the lest time he had see them. He quickly shot back to reality and slammed the door shut.

"Gaara! Run! We need to get out of here fast!" Naruto ran to the window and took Gaaras hand.

"You can't get away kid! I'm going to shave your legs the the bone!" Kisama yelled. Naruto and Gaara jumped out the window and ran toward the Sand Gate. They wanted to lure them as far away from the village as possible. As they were running, they saw Temari and Kankuro. Temari saw them run past, anda few seconds later, saw two men in black coats with red clouds running after them. Kankuro and Temari ran to their house to get their weapons. When they got there, they got their stuff, and Temari quickly wrote a letter and set it on the table. After, they both ran after their brothers.

When Gaara and Naruto had gotten farther away from the village, Naruto turned around, and yelled "Fuuton: Rasen Shuriken!" A swirling blue shuriken spun in Naruto's hand, but it was diminished by Kisames sword. That sword absorbed all the chakra . Itachi ran up to Naruto, and kicked him in the chest. "Ah!" Naruto screamed, as he was flung back about 12 yards away. He crashed into the sand, and skidded. Gaara decided to have a try. Sand surrounded Kisame. "Sand Coffin...SAND BURIAL!" Gaara clutched his first. This didn't do him any good, because all the chakra in Gaaras sand vanished. Kisame brushed the sand off of him, and charged at Gaara. He was kicked also in the chest, but not as hard.

Naruto saw that Kisame had kicked him, and went after him. While running, he yelled "Fuuton: Rasen Shuriken!" His had glowed once more, burning his hand. The burning of his hands didn'y matter to him as much as saving Gaara.

Quickly, Itachi got in front of him, but didn't expect what was next. Naruto had jumped in the air, and fell toward him, with his jutsu help high. Itachi activated his Sharingan, and mad to move out of the way. Only it wasn't fast enough. Narutos attack hit him, but only in the arm. After the hit, Itachi formed a chidori and hit Naruto with it square in the stomach. Naruto screamed in pain, as he bled from his fatal wound and was shot backwards. Itachi walked up to the screaming boy, grabbed him by the neck and lifted him in the air. The kyuubi had helped the bleeding, but he was still. The kyuubi was suddenly frozen.

"You are coming with us, whether you like it...or not." Itachi closed his eyes, and reopened them to revealeyes that would bring him to another world. Naruto made the mistake of looking into them. His world turned red and black.

Gaara was no swung over Kisames shoulder, with many cuts around his body, with a gash and on his side, from his sword.. He had also suffered from extreme chakra loss. Gaara was unconscious.

Naruto was now in the world of Tsukuyomi. This is where Itachi can make you see anything, in a matter of seconds. Naruto saw his friends standing in a line. Itachi was in front of one. He took his sword, and plunged it through Kibas stomach. He was now dead. Naruto was tied down, so he couldn't do anything. Itachi wouldn't even let him shut his eyes. Then he put he sword through Neji, TenTen, Lee, Shino, Hinata and Ino, Shikamaru, Chouji. When Itachi got to Sakura, he kicked her multiple times, which caused her to yell Naruto's name for help. He, also, plunged his sword thought her, but numerous times.She was bleeding everywhere.

Naruto screamed. He couldn't get this out of his head. They meant the world to him. Itachi kept cutting her, until the scene changed.

He was now in a dark room, with rock walls around. There was a snake in the backround, with two people standing in front of it. One of which, was Orochimaru. He was talking to the man on the floor. This guy had raven black hair, and had red eyes. The man turned his head, and Naruto recognized it to be Sasuke. Orochimaru was still talking to him, then Sasuke nodded. Sasuke screamed out, as Orochimaru was suddenly disappearing. Sasuke stood up, still screaming. Then, it got quiet. Very quiet. Sasuke turned around, to face Naruto, but it wasn't the Sasuke he remembered. His eyes were read, but were lined with purple, and when he smiled, a snake-like tongue appeared. Sasuke Uchiha was no more, and Orochimaru was still alive, in Sasukes body.

Naruto screamed. He couldn't take it. Then, his mind just stopped, frozen in time.

Itachi dropped the unconscious Naruto, and brought his eyes back to their pitch black ones. He was exhausted from using so much chakra for his eyes. After a few seconds of relaxing, he picked up the Kyuubi container, and walked towards Kisame.

"You didn't have to torture the kid to death. Now he won't wake up." Kisame said, shifting Gaara on his shoulder.

"Hn." Was all the Uchiha said, before they ran off towards their hide out.

------------------------------------------------------------

Temari and Kankuro were still in the village, racing after Gaara and Naruto. Temari brought her fan and many hand objects. Kankuro brought two of his puppets. They followed the four men.

-

Sorry it took me so long to update. This chapter was supposed to be longer, but that just means the next one will be a little shorter than most. Hope you like it. Theres more to come!


	12. The Search Begins

Team 7 was finally at the Sand Village. They went to the Kazekages office to ask for the address of Gaara and his siblings. The Kazekage gave them the address and they left the office. When they got to the house, Kakashi knocked. No answer, He knocked again and there was still no answer.

Sasuke checked the door knob. It was unlocked so they all walked in. Kakashi headed towards the living room, Sasuke checked all the bedrooms and Sakura checked the Kitchen and Dining room. All checked under papers, carpets anything that would give them a clue on where they were or how Naruto was.

After a few minutes of looking around, Sakura found a piece of paper on the kitchen table.

"Hey guys, I found something!" Sakura called out. Sasuke and Kakashi emerged from their rooms and stood in front of Sakura. She read the note out loud.

"_If looking for Uzumaki Naruto, we have gone to get him. We were coming back from the Kazekages office, and saw Naruto and Gaara running down the streets. Two men were behind him. One of them had a fish like appearance and a huge sword on his back. The other looked like an older Uchiha Sasuke, with longer hair. Both wore a black cloak with red clouds on it. We have headed North to follow them._

_Temari and Kankuro."_

Sasuke anger got the best of him as he clutched his fist

"Uchiha…Itachi!!" He yelled as he ran for the door. Sakura took hold of him, but he tried to break free. Sakura strength was no match for him. Kakashi stood in front of the door.

"Right now is not the time to be worrying about your brother, Sasuke. Akatsuki has Naruto and Gaara, and if we don't get them back, they will both die." Sasuke and Sakura flinched. "Now calm down." Kakashi said, as he opened the door and walked out. Both following. 

Once outside, Kakashi took out a summoning scroll and summoned his dogs. Pakkun stood on top of the big dogs head and asked.

"Hello Kakashi. Who do you need us to track this time?" Pakkun said

"Hey ,Pakkun. First, I need you guys to track down Temari and Kankuro. This is their house, so the scent shouldn't be a problem. Then, we need to find Naruto and Gaara, once we've caught up to Temari and Kankuro."

"Okay, lets go boys!" He said, and they all disappeared in different directions. Kakashi turned around, and said.

"When one of them barks, we follow them. Understand?"

"Hai!" They said, waiting silently for one of the dogs.

….."Waaaoooh!"

"Bingo!" Kakashi said, and the three of them went to find Temari and Kankuro.

Kankuro and Temari were still jumping from trees, following the kidnappers of Gaara and Naruto. Kankuro had sensed people following them.

"Hey Temari, were being f-."

"I know, for a while now, they have. Let's stop. Maybe it's someone looking for us or Naruto." They both stopped, leaning against a tree. About 10 minutes of waiting and they heard a dog bark. Then, they were surrounded by about 5 dogs, Kakashi, Sakura and Sasuke. Temari and Kankuro looked at Sasuke like he was a ghost of something. Naruto had told them he would be dead. Sasuke sighed.

"The dobe probably told you Orochimaru took over my body. As you can see, that's not the case. When these two and Shikamaru came to get me, I killed Orochimaru." Sasuke explained.

"Wait, Shikamaru helped you guys out?"

"Yeah, he even killed Kabuto, Orochimarus right hand man." Sakura said. Temari smiled, not knowing Shikamaru was so… cool. Temari then told them the story, as they followed the dogs who were following Gaara and Narutos scent. Kakashi had to explain who the two people were, chasing Gaara. Even the names of them both.

Temari looked at Sasuke, who looked like he could kill someone. 'So that was his brother' She thought. All five of them, and the dogs ran for about 45 minutes until they saw _them_. Itachi and Kisame had stopped to take a break. Naruto and Gaara were unconscious for the most part. 

Nauto was lying face down, with Gaara horizontally on top of him. Both of them looked like they had just been dropped. They also had many, many bruises, cuts and wounds that were very deep. You could see the blood all over the ground.

Sasuke was about to jump up and run in, when Sakura held him down.

"No," She whispered very quietly. "If you go in now, you won't be helping Naruto."

"My brother is right there, Sakura. I can't just sit around here and do nothing!"

"No! We'll go in and ambush them. Then you can… so whatever." She told them. Sasuke just sighed and listened to the plan. While Kakashi and company were talking, Sasuke thought…

'Itachi, you die today!'

I am SO sorry it took me so long to update. I hope you guys will forgive me. If you guys have any good ideas for the story, I will defiantly consider them for the next chapter. Thank you guys again for being to patient!

Crystal 


	13. A fight begins

Birthday Disaster chapter 13

Birthday Disaster chapter 13

Itachi and Kisame were sitting down to rest. Itachi was against a tree, while Kisame was cleaning his bloody sword. It was a lot of work, running for an hour with two kids on your back.

Then, Itachi heard a rustle from behind him in the bushes.

"Did you hear that?" Itachi asked Kisame. He nodded and looked around.

Suddenly, kunai's were being thrown from all directions. Kakashi and Sasuke came out from behind a tree ready to fight. Sakura, Temari and Kankuro checked on Gaara and Naruto.

Sakura took Gaara off of Naruto and checked his injuries. Gaara had cuts all over his body, and he was completely out of chakra. His head had a huge bump on its side, and his back was a full painting of black and blue. Sakura explained his condition to Temari and Kankuro and got to work.

First, she healed all the cuts and bruises that were on his chest. She continued to his arms and legs.

Temari watched as all the bruises were getting smaller and smaller until they vanished. Soon, Gaara's eyes were opening.

"W-Will he be….o-okay?" Gaara asked. Temari and Kankuro looked of in surprise, not expecting to hear his voice.

"I don't know yet" Sakura said.

"S-Save our…brother" He said, and lost consciousness. Sakura heard this and quickly checked on Naruto.

He was lying face down, so she flipped him over, his head on her lap. As far as her eyes could tell, she saw that there were bruises on his neck, where you could tell a hand had grabbed him. Naruto had cuts on his cheeks as well as his arms.

She healed those first, and started to get tired, mostly because she had started with Gaara. She didn't know if she could heal him all the way.

Sakura healed the bruise that were upon his neck, but not enough for it to competly to go away, considering she didn't know anymore of the damage that could possibly be around his body.

'_Why isn't the Kyuubi healing any of these?' _Sakura thought. She knew of its powers and couldn't figure out why.

Sakura opened his shirt to reveal a bleeding stomach. The Chidori Itachi used had caused his skin to burn and go deep. The Kyuubi had healed a little of that.

She quickly bent over and put both hands over his body. Green chakra filled the area with the surge of power, while it started healing the wound little by little.

Sasuke and Kakashi were fighting now. Luckily, none of them were hurt…yet. Itachi received a blow from Sasuke, while Kisame was bleeding from his shoulder. Kakashi had gotten around his with a shadow clone and cut him with a kunai. All four of them were breathing heavily.

Kisame ran towards Kakashi with his sword held high. Kakashi stood still till the last, possible, moment, and then jumped into the tree. He ran a few trees away, as Kisame followed.

The air had gotten chillier.

Sasuke and Itachi were three feet apart, staring at each other, waiting for someone to make the first move. Then, Sasuke pulled out his katana and showed Itachi his bloody sword. He hadn't cleaned it since its last encounter.

Sasuke charged at his older brother, leaving deep foot prints in his tracks. Itachi disappeared and reappeared right behind Sasuke. It reminded Sasuke of how he first left Sakura on the bench before he left.

He activated his Sharingan and moved out of the way. Before Itachi knew it, Sasuke was behind HIM with a Chidori.

Itachi tried to move out of the way. It proved difficult as Sasukes Chidori hit his shoulder, but only enough to make his cry out in pain. After trying to stop the bleeding, Itachi yelled "Kisame! Retreat!"

Itachi ran towards Kisame, leaving a blood trail. He caught up and disappeared.

Sasuke curse, and walked to where Kakashi had been. Kakashi was on the ground, bleeding from his arms. He was laid up against a tree, clutching his chafed arm. Kisame had done a deal, by shaving his skin off. Sasuke appeared at the scene and ran up to him. He grabbed Kakashi unharmed arm, and put it around his neck. They both walked to where Sakura and everyone else were.

When they arrived, Sakura was still healing Naruto's stomach. It was pretty deep, and had ruptured a lot of arteries. Kankuro and Temari' hands were over Sakuras, lending her their chakra. Naruto's wound was healing slowly. His breathing was becoming less and less, his heartbeat slowing.

"No! Naruto stay with me!" Sakura yelled and put more chakra into her hands. Sasuke put Kakashi down by a nearby tree and helped Sakura out. When Sasuke put his hands over Kankuros, the chakra was raging. Sasuke had a lot of chakra so Temari and Kankuro pulled away, as to save theirs from running low.

Naruto's heart beat and breathing was still very slow, but it was stable. He still had many cuts and scraps, but there wasn't enough chakra to even touch them up a bit. Kankuro carried Naruto; Temari help Kakashi, and Sasuke carried both Sakura and Gaara. Sasuke held Sakura bridal style while Gaara was on his back.

Talk about pain.

They both headed to Konaha so Lady Tsunade could give the final verdict on how they would do.


	14. Lost and Found

Konaha Hospital

**Konaha Hospital**

When the 7 of them appeared at the Village Gate, the guards immediately helped them take the injured or exhausted people to the hospital. Right when they open the red door, Tsunade came by and asked rather harshly.

"What's wrong? Everyone get out of my way!"

Sasuke was the one to answer her question.

"Itachi and Kisame kidnapped Naruto and Gaara. Apparently, they were tortured. Gaara right now is unconscious, but for the most part in stable condition and Naruto has many injuries. Internally and mentally. He hasn't wakened up yet." Then Temari took over.

"Sakura was healing Gaara and she was running low on chakra. She went over to Naruto, and Kankuro Sasuke and I lent her or chakra to give her enough to keep him in a stable state. His stomach was the worst, because there was a burn, and it was healing very slowly. We finally had gotten him to stabilize. Right now, she's suffering from chakra exhaustion. Kakashi has a wound on his arm, and that's about it."

Tsunade ordered Naruto and Gaara to the emergency room. Two of Tsunade's assistants went to help Kakashi and Sakura. Sasuke Temari and Kankuro sat in the waiting room. It would be awhile before they heard any news.

--

Tsunade rushed into the operation room. She went over all of Narutos injuries, his breathing and heartbeat; slow and steady. Sakura had done a great job with. From legs down, he had a sprained ankle with two or three bruises. No internal problems. There was internal bleeding as well as arteries that were cut and needed to be fixed, though no organs were damaged.

She sighed in relief, and healed the internal bleeding quick, so nothing would go wrong. Tsunade had seen his neck, and saw the hand marks covering that area. She finished Sakuras half done work, and healed all of the cuts and bruises over the rest of his body.

Tsunade was wondering also why the Kyuubi wasn't healing any of these.

She now went to check his head. She put her hand over his forehead, and pulled back in shock quickly because of the shock. Tsunade put her hand over his head again and noticed how badly his head was damaged. His brain was hardly awake. His mind looked like it had been tortured. He must have seen something really terrible for this to be so bad. Then, she thought of the Akatsuki members. The one with the Sharingan, Itachi Uchiha, had entered his mind and must had shown him really terrible memories.

Tsukuyumi.

'_Itachi much have used it on him. I can't imagine what he actually saw' _

Tsunade finished her examination and started the healing process. She had healed his stomach all the way. He was going to have stomachaches for a while though.

Naruto's head couldn't be healed by mere medical jutsu. He would have to heal that on his own. One thing was for sure, ad he wasn't going to wake up for about three weeks.

Shizune checked on Gaara. All his injuries had been healed by Sakura, but she went over them again, just to make sure nothing was unhealed. There was internal bleeding on his side, and she patched him up there. Sakura had done a very good job. Gaara just had to stay here for a few days to recover.

She went to tell the others the verdict.

Out in the hall, Sakura had taken some medicine to regain her chakra strength. She wasn't worried about herself as much as she was for Naruto and Gaara. Naruto most of all. After she took the medicine, she left to go sit with the others.

Once in the waiting room, Temari and Shikamaru asked if she was okay. Shikamaru was worried about Naruto and had heard the news, so he came and gave his support. She told them she was fine, and sat across from Sasuke. The only available seat left.

Kakashi was in a bed getting bandaged by another doctor. She had kept telling him how lucky he was that the sword didn't break his arm. He still had to stay in the hospital, so they could replace the bandage. It hadn't been a normal cut either. The sword had so many little pricks on it, that they were stuck in Kakashi's arm. Everyone was thinking at the same time.

"How's Naruto doing?"

**10 mins later**

The people in the waiting room were waiting for someone to tell them some kind of information.

Naruto, Gaara and Kakashi.

A doctor came appeared and everyone looked up from their hands.

"Hatake Kakashi is now in his room, resting. He has a lot of small pieces of Kisames sword in his arm, so he will have to stay a while. You can see him when he wakes up." The doctor said, and walked back behind the double doors. Sasuke was sitting, with his arms folded; looking at the door Naruto had gone through.

Shikamaru and Temari were having a conversation on how Naruto was doing during his stay with the sand siblings.. Mostly, Shikmaru just listened.

Kankuro was bent over, with his arm on his knee; looking at the wall. Sakura was also bent over, but she was twiddling her thumbs.

A few minutes later, Shizune came in. Temari and Kankuro stood up.

"Is he okay? Will he be alright?" Temari asked.

"He's fine, thanks to Sakura's medical skills. Honestly, is she wasn't there he'd be dead. We're very lucky to have her here with us." Shizune smiled, and turned around to leave, but Kankuro asked "When can we see him?"

"Right now, he's sleeping. He should be for a while, but in a few days you can." Temari thanked her and sat back down. Temari and Kankuro turned to Sakura, thanking her for saving their brothers life.

"Your welcome," she said over and over, blushing at the attention her was getting. Sasuke looked at her, with a little smile approaching his lips.

They continued, waiting to know how Naruto was doing, Sakura worst of all. She stood up and paced the white hallway. Sasuke watched her. He, too, was worried about Naruto.

About an hour later, Tsunade walked out of the door, and into the waiting room. Sha had a frown on her face. They listened intently to what she was about to say.

"Naruto is better. The wound on his stomach is fully healed, but he will have stomach pains for a while. That's the good news." She saw how everyone's face turned into a mere frown.

"The bad news is that Naruto has suffered from massive mind damage. He's alive and fine, but he won't wake up for at least three weeks. That's why the Kyuubi couldn't heal any of the wounds. His mind was almost dead. If it weren't for Sakura, he would be dead. I, personally, thank you Sakura. You have become almost a strong as me." She laughed.

"You can visit Naruto in a weeks time. That should be enough." Tsunade left, with everyone in shock. Sasuke was very angry. He knew that Itachi had used Tsukyumi on him, and had given him hell. Naruto probably saw something terrible. Everyone was happy at the moment. They all left the hospital to tell everyone the news.

_**Three days later **_

Naruto was in his room, with bandages all over him. Doctors were checking on him every hour. The windows were opened now with sun shinning through them. Kakashi was standing by the wall, with his arm in a sling.

Temari and Kankuro were still sitting besides Gaara. Gaara was now awake, but he had to stay in bed for two more days. They were talking about Naruto and how he was.

Tsunade entered Naruto's room, knowing Sakura was be in there.

"Sakura, could I speak with you for a moment?" Tsunade asked. Sakura nodded and followed her out the door. Once out the door, she looked back into the room at Naruto, then shut the door. Sakura followed Tsunade into her office. In the office, Shizune and a few other doctors were in there. She thought she as in trouble.

"Please take a seat, Sakura" Tsunade said, as she sat behind her desk, with everyone else behind her. Sakura sat down

"I have called you here because of your previous mission. Because of you, Gaara and Naruto are alive. You did a great job. Right now, you are an apprentice, but starting when you leave that door, you will be a full time medic in ANBU. Congratulations!" Tsunade said. Everyone behind her was clapping.

Sakura was so happy. She now would be in ANBU, and a full time medic. She couldn't wait to tell Kakashi.

Sakura got up and thanked everyone. She then ran out of the room and back into Narutos room with a huge smile on her face. Everyone was in the same position they were in before she had left.

Kakashi looked at her and noticed the smile on her face. "So?" Sasuke looked up from his folded hands, and at Sakura.

"Tsunade told me that I'm a full med-nin and that I'll be in AMBU."

"Congratulations!" Kakashi said. Sasuke just brought his attention back to his han. Sakura sat in the chair she was sitting in before, and watched Naruto.

Gaara asked Temari how things were going with Naruto. The entire summary, with the cuts to mind damage she told him. Gaara felt sorry for Naruto. He wouldn't wake up for at least two more weeks now.

"He put up a good fight." Gaara said.

"Yeah, he did. Naruto did it to the best of his capability." Temari said. Kankuro nodded, because he knew that Naruto was strong. Considering Naruo had beat him in countless fights.

The siblings continued talking the rest of the day.

* * *

_**Hey guys! Your support through this entire story makes me want to write more. I love all of my reviewers! **_

_**I tried to make this chapter a little bit longer, so sorry if its not as long. **_

_**Don't forget to review!**_

**_Crystal_**

* * *


	15. Recovery?

Chapter 19 Birthday Disaster

_**OMFG, I can't apologize enough for having this chapter come so late! Please don't hate me even though I deserve it.**_

_**Well, here it is. I hope it's worth being so late.**_

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

--

24 Hours Later

Today, Team 7 was out on their own, doing stuff they needed to do that day. Naruto was still in his room, showing no progress. Tsunade was in her office, talking with Shizune.

Suddenly, Narutos heart monitor was speeding up to a normal pace. His heart beat was steady. That means Naruto's head is straight. Tsunade quickly got up from her seat and ran to his room were she looked at him. She went over and checked on him.

Tsunade removed the bandages that were covering his body. What she didn't expect was them all to be healed completely, with no scars at all. No cuts, no bruises and when she checked his sprained ankle, it was fully healed. All his injuries were healed.

"The Kyuubi must be working again. A week and a half before he wakes up." Tsunade said, as she went to examine his head. It was still a totally mess. No improvement there. If anything, it was getting worse because he wasn't using his brain.

Tsunade left, after removing all the unnecessary wrapping, and went to give her report on Narutos condition.

Kiba, Hinata and Shino walked into the hospital, wanting to visit Naruto. They each signed in and checked where Naruto was staying. Seeing the room number he was in, the three of them left the waiting room.

Kiba was the first to enter the room, followed by Shino, then a very shy Hinata. All of them were very surprised to see that Naruto didn't have any gauze and such all around him. They all sat down and talked about all the good times they had with Naruto.

"I remember one time, when he and I were fighting and he totally tricked me by transforming into Akamaru." Kiba told them. Hinata was next.

"I-I remember one t-time, when w-we talked about h-how well h-h-he'd on the C-Chuunin Exams" Hinata stutters.

"One time, he and I talked about becoming Hokage (A.N. I made that up, so nobody needs to be confused)

They each took turns saying what they remembered. There was a knock at the door. Kiba and Shino said" Come in", while Hinata twiddled her thumbs. Team Gai entered the room, Gai sensei said that his wonderful student would like to enjoy a few minutes of their youth to visit Naruto.

Kiab and his team mates walked out of the room, while Neji, Ten-Ten and Lee came in with their sensei. They had also talked about their memories with Naruto, then had left.

Sakura went down to Ino's flower shop to buy flowers for Naruto. Ino was working there. When she got there, she looked at the white, red and pink flowers. Ino walked up to here and said, "Naruto would like the red ones the best."

"Do you think?" she said, eyeing the red ones.

"Yep, definitely!"

"Thanks Ino, could I get two red flowers?" Ino nodded and grabbed then for her. She brought them to the cash register and Sakura paid for them. The sun was shinning, with hardly any clouds. Birds were flying across the sky. It felt kind of peaceful to Sakura.

She walked towards the hospital wanting to give the flowers to Naruto. She walked in the waiting room, signed in and went to his room.

Sakura opened the door and looked at Naruto. She was shocked, as she dropped the flowers and noticed that all of the bandages on Naruto were gone. Everything was healed. Every cut, bruise and burn. Running over to him, she cried, "Naruto? Naruto wake up!!"

When she got no response, she yelled again "Naruto!"

"He can't hear you", a voice said behind her. She turned around to see Tsunade standing in the doorway. Tsunade noticed the confused look on her face, picked up the flower and walked in, setting the flowers in a vase.

"His mind hasn't healed at all. If anything, its getting any worse, cause theres no activity there. The kyuubi found a way around the barrier and healed him. He still won't wake up for another week at the least."

Sakura started crying. The thing she wanted the most at this moment was to see Naruto awake. She couldn't stand not hearing his voice yell in her ear, the hitting him in the head afterwords and him just talking about ramen all the time.

Tsunade walked out of the room and left Sakura with Naruto. It was a lot to handle for Sakura. She ended up falling asleep on the chair next to him.

Kakashi and Sasuke was heading toward the hospital for their daily visit on Naruto

When they got to Naruto's room, the had the same reaction as Sakura had earlier. It liked like Naruto was sleeping, they way that Naruto had all of the wrapping and gauze around him. They found Sakura still sleeping on the chair, with her arms out on the bed, her head resting peacefully on them.

Kakashi sat in the chair across from the bed while Sasuke stood by the window sill, looking at the flowers Sakura had brought Naruto.

'She did that with me also' Kakashi thought, also looking at the flowers. Kakashi took a pill that would help with the pain in his arm. It was still in the sling Shizune had given him. He didn't like the fact he couldn't train properly with anyone.

They all sat there, watching Sakura and Naruto sleep.

_**Again I am soooo sorry this chapter cam out so late. Please if I take so long ever again, let me know. For those of you who always are reading Two Lives, I will have that updated tomorrow.**_


	16. He awakens

4 DAYS LATER

4 DAYS LATER

Team 7 were in Narutos room, visiting. One week Tsunade said, he might wake up. Sakura had asked Sasuke about his Sharingan. He showed her his red eyes, making sure not to use any chakra to hurt her. He was explaining how to use it and what different kinda jutsu's he can use.

Sakura was fascinated by it. She asked questions and everything and Sasuke answered. Even Kakashi helped answer a few of them.

Suddenly, they heard an 'Errrrrrmmmm'. They turned to see a stirring Naruto.

"Mmhnn" He moaned again, and he turned his head side to side slowly. Then Narutos eyes opened. The cerulean eyes looked around the room to see where he was. 'Konaha hospital' He thought. He saw the people in the room. Kakashi sensei…..Sakura and….He didn't recognize the other man until his eyes met his. Naruto saw the Sharingan and grabbed his head in pain, remembering what he had seen before.

"AHHHHHHH" Naruto screams. He was struggling against the covers trying to get away from there. "GET AWAY FROM ME!!"

"Sasuke, what did you do!?" Sakura asked, as she looked at Naruto with a concerned look. Sasuke stopped the chakra flow to his eyes, which turned back to onyx.

"I didn't do anything. He must have seen the Sharingan and thought it was Itachi….." He gritted his teeth at the name of his brother.

Naruto was still grabbing his head in pain, screaming at the top of his lungs, as two nurses came in. Tsunade ran into the room and yelled "What's wrong!? What happened!?"

"Naruto started moaning, and getting restless. He looked around the room and saw Sasuke's Sharingan. Sakura had been asking what it was and how to use it so he was explaining, as was I. Then Naruto started grabbing his head in pain and screaming get away from me!" Kakashi quickly summarized. Tsunade nodded and was telling Naruto to calm down. She was so surprised Naruto woke up so soon. She thought at least he'd be out for another week!

Naruto finally calmed down, but his head was still killing him. The painful memories in his head almost looked real.

Naruto, what did you see in that memory?" Kakashi asked him.

"I-I saw everyone important to me…..die by swords, and beatings and explosions. I s-saw Sasuke a-as Orochimaru……purple eyes, and snake like features……AHHHHHHHH!!"

He screamed again, clutching his head. Now that he was awake, Tsunade could help with the pain. She put her hands on his head and concentrated her chakra into her hands. In seconds, the pain was gone. Naruto lay there, totally exhausted on the bed. With clear eyes, he looked around the room again. He smiled when he saw Kakashi and Sakura.

"H-hey guys. How's it going?" Naruto said.

"Naruto!" Sakura cried and hugged him; telling him much she missed him. He hugged her back, telling her the same thing. When she pulled back, Kakashi went over with his famous smiles and said "Nice to have you back, kid."

Naruto nodded and smiled. He turned around to the next person. The person he hadn't seen in over 5 years. His smile was replaced with a solemn look. Kakashi and Sakura we're both thinking the same thing. 'Lets give them some time to talk' They left the room, which left Sasuke and Naruto to themselves.

A few minutes of silence went in between the two, until Naruto spoke up.

"Hey teme," Naruto said, with a smile. Sasuke smirked.

"Hey dobe,"

"So…your back in Konaha. I didn't think you actually were."

"yeah, Sakura Kakashi and Shikamaru came to get me. It was their mission. Sakura almost killed me, with her new strength. I guess she was right when she said you could get stronger in Konaha too……"

"You probably deserved it" Naruto said. Sasuke recalled the convo he and Sakura had had.

"Is, um…Orochimaru…?"

"Yeah, I killed him." This surprised Naruto. He thought Kakashi would have taken care of him.

"Whoa, that must mean your strong……But I'm stronger." Sasuke looked at Naruto and saw the goofy grin on his face.

"Oh yeah dobe? Well I'm the first one your sparing with when you get out of here," Sasuke smirked.

"You better believe it!!" The two of them talked for about 10 mins on only what they've been doing th past 5 years. They told each other about the new jutsu's they learned and training, until the subject of Itachi came up.

"Itachi must have given you hell," Sasuke said, disapprovingly.

Well it sure wasn't heaven, haha. He showed me Kakashi, Sakura, Iruka-sensei, Tsunade and everyone else in the village that was important to me die right in front on me. Everyone being stabbed countless times. Then after what felt like days of that, he showed me you and Orochimaru. You two were talking, and then you screamed in pain, as Orochimaru started the transformation. When you turned around, you had a snake like tongue and purple……eyes. It was the wrost. I felt like I couldn't do anything….." Naruto sais, as he looked at his hands in his lap.

"When Itachi used that on me, he showed me when he was killing my clan. My aunt and Uncle everyone…. The last thing he showed me was my parents laying on top of each other with stab wounds all over and blood everywhere. Itachi was behind them, with a sword that was dripping blood……my parents blood." Sasuke shuddered. Neither of them said anything for a long time. You could see the sun getting lower in the skies. Sasuke stood up, and faced Naruto.

"I'll come by tomorrow after everyone's been here" Sasuke said.

"oOkay!" He said with a huge grin on his face, his hands behind his head.

"Thanks for saving me, by the way…." Sasuke turned around with a half smile

"Anytime bro"


	17. Happy 17th birthday

Chapter 20 bday disaster

Here it is, chapter 20. I think it was a little too short but I'll update soon.

Everyone came to visit Naruto today. First was Iruka-sensei. Iruka had brought some ramen for them to eat, as they talked. Next had been Lady Tsunade/ She had come in to check up on him, but ended up staying and chatting. Naruto told her about all the new jutsus he had learned, and how it had been in sand. Then the big question had come up from Naruto.

"Gaara!! How is Gaara, is he okay?!" Naruto yelled.

"He's fine. He's in his room now getting his last check up. Do you want to see him?" she asked, knowing his answer right away.

"Yes!" Naruto jumped out of his bed and ran to the door and out, turning right. Tsunade stood there, waiting…

A few seconds later, Naruto flew back into the room. He raised his hand to the back of his head and laughed nervously. "Uhh, heh heh, what room is he in?" Tsunade laughed to herself quietly and said "Room 437." Naruto ran down the hallway to the right. Naruto walked in and saw the redhead on the bed. "Hey Gaara, how are you feeling?" Gaara looked over to see who was speaking. He saw Naruto, and said "Been better. You don't look like you got beat up"

"Yeah well, the kyuubi helped a little. I heard I wasn't supposed to wake up for another week, hehe."

"Yeah, I heard that too." Naruto walked over and sat on the chair next to Gaara. They talked for a long time before Temari and Kankuro walked though the door.

"Hey Gaara, who's sitting in the cha-." Kankuro said when Naruto turned around.

"Naruto!" cried Temari, and ran over to hug him. Naruto laughed and returned the hug. Kankuro just walked up behind Temari with a smile.

"You weren't supposed to wake up for another week, bro", Kankuro said.

"I know, my head was killing me when I woke up. It still hurts a bit, but besides that I feel fine. I hope you guys didn't get hurt…" Naruto said.

"No, we stayed with you and Gaara while Sasuke and Kakashi fought." Temari said. The three of them talked about what they we're gonna do when they got outta here. First, Naruto was going to go back to the sand village and get his things, and come back here. Naruto told them about the fight with Sasuke they promised, when he would get back. The three of them voted Naruto to win.

The sky was turning orange and red now, which meant that it was time for Naruto to head back to his room. He waved goodbye to the sand siblings and walked down the hallways.

He tried to occupy himself, by stepping on only the red tiles on the hallway floor on his way to his room. When he got there, he noticed two flowers by his bed. They were red. '_Sakura must have brought them while I was gone_' Naruto thought, while walking to his bed and lying down. In about 15 mins, the nurse would bring him his dinner. He was starving.

There was a knock at the door.

"Come in" Naruto said, and sat up in the bed, bringing his knees up, putting his arms on them.

Sasuke walked into the room and shut the door behind him. He sat in the chair by the bed.

"Hey Sasuke, what have you been up to lately?" Naruto asked

"Hey. Not much. Training with Sakura. She's not the weak girl you knew back then. Did you know she's a full time med-nin now?" Sasuke said.

"No I didn't, but when you talk to her again, tell her I said Congrats." Sasuke nodded his head.

"You seem to be spending a lot of time with her now." Naruto said, after a few seconds of silence had passed by. Sasuke turned his head towards the opposite wall. "She's just a teammate, I don't like her…" Naruto noticed he had looked away.

"Then why didn't you train with Kakashi today? He didn't have anything to do besides read that book of his and I never said you liked her either…" Sasuke froze, and Naruto knew he had caught him. He smiled all goofy looking, with his fist to his mouth almost laughing.

"Ooh, Sasuke likes Sakura. Sasuke likes Sakura. Sa-Ouch!" Sasuke hit him on the side of his head, to keep him from shouting.

"Shut up dobe, its still a hospital. And I don't like Sakura."

"Yeah okay," Naruto said, rubbing the bump forming on his head.

"So I hear you'll be out in a few days." Sasuke said. Naruto nodded. "Before our spar, I need to go back to sand and get all my stuff." Naruto noted.

"Just don't take forever.'' They continued talking for hours. When the nurse came in and brought Naruto's meal, she had also brought one for Sasuke. They sat, ate and talked until visiting hours were over. When Sasuke and his leave, he turned around and said.

"By the way, Happy 17th birthday Naruto." Then he left the room. Naruto totally forgot it was his birthday. He was more surprised that Sasuke knew when his birthday was. Naruto drifted off to sleep, with a grin on his face

_**Hey guys, sry it took me so long. So how did you like it? I thought it was pretty cute lol.**_

_**Only two chapters left!! If you guys like it a lot, I need ideas for a sequal, Can you give me some ideas so I can start writing? Don't forget to review!! **_

_**Crystal**_


	18. Welcome Home!

Chapter 18

**You guys must want to KILL me. I think the last time I updated this story was like….what, April of last month? Well I just came across my drafts of the story and thought "I should totally update my stories! So here is the 18****th**** chapter of Birthday Disaster. Hope you like it, after this there is only one more chapter :P**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, but I do own the plot **** Hahahaha!**

**-----------**

Naruto was finally able to get out of the hospital. He first went to his apartment, to see what shape it was in, since he hasn't been there in a couple years. He couldn't imagine how dusty the place was, or how bad the food in the fridge was going to be, let alone smell. He cringed at the thought. As far as he knows, he left nothing in the house besides a few left behind clothes and little things like that. When he opened the door, he never expected what he saw…

"Surprise!!"

Naruto took a step back, totally drawn back at the site. His house was completely clean and in perfect condition. In the main room, he saw streamers hanging from the ceiling, balloons in the corner hooked onto lamps. Everyone that was close to Naruto was in his house, welcoming him back home. Kakashi was actually on time, and not late!

After realizing that he was still standing in his doorway, he walked inside and shut the door

Iruka-sensi walked up to him and gave him a huge hug. Naruto returned it with new found strength. It wasn't the hug that was exchanged between friends. It was a hug that was felt between Father and Son. Naruto felt loved once again.

"It's good to see you up and about, Naruto. I hear those hospital beds aren't very comfortable," Iruka-sensei said, smiling

"It's good to _be _up and about," Naruto laughed. "It's no wonder people brought in hospitals are always having back problems."

Iruka laughed. "I'm glad that your humor is still intact and that your okay."

After everyone had told him how great it was to see him out of bed, the music started and people started to party. Naruto's eyes happened to find the most interesting parings: Jiraya and Tsunade, Neji and Ten-Ten, Chouji and Ino….even Shikamaru and Temari were dancing! Well, not actually. Only Temari was dancing. Shikamaru just stood there, with his hands in his pockets, head turned to the side, probably thinking 'Dancing is too troublesome' while Temari danced in front of him.

What had happened while he was gone? He asked himself, silently laughing to himself.

He walked around and also saw Sakura and Sasuke. They weren't dancing, they were just drinking some punch from the bowl on the table and talking to each other. He smiled and walked into his room. While sitting on the bed, he realized that all his clothes and things he brought with him to the Sand village was still…in the village of sand. He'd have to go get them sooner or later.

He walked to the window to step out and sit on the roof and get some air when a hand on his shoulder stopped him.

"Kakashi-sensei?" He turned around, and saw the man himself.

"Where do you think you're going?" Kakashi asked.

"Well, I was thinking about going to go get my stuff from Gaara's house. I left all my things there. Everything important to me. But I was just going to go sit out on the roof."

Kakashi nodded, knowing what he meant also understanding what he meant by important things. Iruka's head band, the picture of Team 7 back in the day and the necklace that Tsunade gave to him.

"Why don't you go tomorrow, when Gaara and the rest leave. That way people won't worry about you, and be looking for you in 10 minutes while your gone"

"There is no one looking for me. Thy are all dancing and talking. It's okay, I don't mind. It's a party after all."

"Naruto, I'm surprised at you. You never doubted how many people cared about you before," Kakashi said. Naruto looked down at his feet.

"I guess you're right." He said and they both walked out.

Kiba and Akamaru were playing some old dog tricks, so everyone was in a circle watching them. A few people were even laughing.

Naruto sat in the corner of the room, letting people have their fun. He really wanted to go get his things,

Naruto put his elbows on his knees, leaning over and putting his head on his hands. He started to remember the day Iruka gave him the head band, when he had stolen that scroll. He had been so happy.

He also remembered the many great times Team 7 had with missions and everything. He distinctly remembered when they tried to find out what was under Kakashi's mask.

Sakura was talking to Sasuke when she saw Naruto sitting in the corner. She walked over and when Sasuke figured out where she was going, he followed her. They stood in front of him and asked.

"Naruto, what's wrong?"

He looked up from his hands and saw Sakura kneeling in front him him.

"Nothing, I just was thinking. I was also thinking about going to get my stuff back from Gaara's house. There are a few important things I would like back."

"What kind of things?" Sakura asked. He explained the few things he wanted back. "I also have Sasuke's old forehead protector. The one he left, before going to Orochimaru, after our fight. Do you remember the scratch I put on it, Sasuke?"

Sasuke nodded, looking to the side.

"Yeah, I put that there after you said 'You'll never out a scratch on my forehead," Naruto said, laughing. Sakura joined in laughing and Sasuke just smirked.

"So yeah, I'd really like those back, I'm leaving early tomorrow with Gaara, Temari and Kankuro when they head back. Kakashi said people would be worried if I had left earlier…"

Sakura looked at Naruto like he was crazy. She took her fist and hit him on the head.

"You Baka! Of course we would be worried!" Sakura screamed.

"Ow! Sakura, my head still hurts from the fight...Owwwww," Naruto whined.

Sakura's face dropped. She had completely forgotten about that. "I'm so sorry Naruto!!!!"

"Heh, it's alright." Naruto got up and hugged her and she just returned it. Then he pulled back and yelled,

"Now who's up for some limbo?!"

* * *

**So that was Chapter 18. What did you think? **** Again, sorry everyone who's been reading my story from the beginning, and I haven't been updating. Hope you can forgive me!!! Also, anyone reading Two Lives, I will be updating that later tonight as well. Review!!!!!!!!!!! **

**~Crystal**


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